By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – U-S District Judge Myron Thompson says Alabama should get back four-point-three million dollars in contempt fines. The Department of Transportation paid the fines as part of a 20-year-old racial discrimination lawsuit. But the federal judge ordered the refund after deciding the state simply could not comply with some parts of the consent decree. Attorney General Troy King supports the decision, saying it was unfair to penalize the state under those circumstances. The legal case has cost Alabama more than 250 million dollars in settlements, fines, legal fees, and other costs.