The Idaho Statutes are clear that each party in a lawsuit shall pay for their own attorneys, unless the lawsuit is found to be frivolously filed or defended against. In the Coeur d'Alene election challenge, the court found the lawsuit was not frivolous, and also found that more illegal votes had been cast than Mr. Kennedy won by. It was only through the lawsuit that it could be determined who those votes had been cast for so they could be removed from the results. Mr. Kennedy has now requested that the city pay for his legal team, but since the city should make some effort to appear that they are not biased, how could they pay for one candidate's legal costs unless they pay for the other candidate's cost as well? Put another way, the city has no basis to justify this/Larry Spencer, letter to the Coeur d'Alene Press editorial page. More here.

Question: Do you agree with Spencer that the city of Coeur d'Alene should pay the legal bills for both Councilman Mike Kennedy and Jim Brannon in election challenge?