How George Rekers Was Paid $120K

My pal Steve Rothaus at the Miami Herald breaks down how Dr. George Rekers ended up with twice what the state agreed to pay him for his "expert testimony."

Anti-gay psychologist George Rekers charged Florida $300 an hour to testify as an expert witness in a trial defending Florida’s ban on gay people adopting. The state planned to cap Rekers' fee at $60,900 -- but paid him $120,693 after he exceeded his contracted hours. "It is not unusual for estimated costs to require adjustment during the course of trial preparation," said Sandi Copes, communications director for the Florida Attorney General's Office. Copes said the extra hours were not agreed to in writing, but "merely by discussion." "A total of 402.31 hours was submitted for payment by invoice attached. Of the 402.31 hours, 203 was paid by Direct Order," according to a 2009 state settlement agreement. ‘‘We accept responsibility for not obtaining a written document for the 199.31 remaining hours. However, the monies are legally due."

And here's the breakdown of those billed hours.

• $27,000 (90 hours) to "evaluate and critique'' new research.
• $5,400 (18 hours) to meet with staff at the Attorney General's Office to prepare for deposition.
• $6,000 (20 hours) to standby at trial and deliver expert academic opinions.

Equality Florida's Nadine Smith says Rekers should return the money, adding: "Rekers is part of a small cadre of bogus pseudo scientists that charge these exorbitant fees to peddle information they know has been discredited time and time again. And people like McCollum will pay top dollar for it."