Idaho to Pay Vet’s Legal Fees Over Burial with Wife

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's top elected officials have agreed to pay $70,000 in attorney fees to a U.S. Navy veteran who successfully fought for permission to be buried with the ashes of her late wife in a southwest Idaho veterans cemetery. The Spokesman-Review reports that the Board of Examiners, which includes Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, approved the request Tuesday. Madelynn Taylor had previously been denied having her ashes interred with Jean Mixner because of Idaho's ban on same-sex marriage. The Boise-based Idaho State Veterans Cemetery is owned and operated by the state.

However, the state's gay marriage ban was lifted on Oct. 15 after courts determined it was unconstitutional. A federal court later granted Taylor's request for a permanent injunction barring the state from ever preventing the two from being interred together.