News & Events

For media inquiries and other press-related questions, please contact the NAAG Press Center at (202) 326-6027.

Press Room

State News Headlines

August 13, 2007

The following headlines are compiled as an internal service for state Attorney General offices only. This list is not exhaustive and is a snapshot of news from around the country compiled through the use of various search engines.

For Want of a Swearing In, an Arrest Is Lost in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 11 (AP) — The authorities may have inadvertently given hundreds or even thousands of people accused of drunken driving, dealing drugs and other crimes a way to get off the hook: The arresting officers were never sworn in. A judge has ruled that a drunken-driving arrest was invalid because the officer had not been sworn in as a member of a new police department formed when the city police and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department merged on Jan. 1. Other officers also were not sworn in. Full Article

Shocking electricity prices follow deregulation

When Deborah Jackson opened her electric bill in February, she had no idea it would be a life-changing event. She and her husband, Patrick, who live in a three-bedroom brick house in East St. Louis, Ill., owed Ameren (AEE) $600.82, up from $172 in January. In March, the tab floated into the stratosphere: $1,024.31. Since the couple's budget billing plan lets them pay the same amount each month, the charges were eventually set at $538. Full Article

Penalty widens for youth sex 'coercion'

Fourteen-year-old boys who "coerce" sex from their girlfriends soon will join adult rapists and child molesters with their names, addresses and photographs on the state's Web site list of sex offenders. And most will remain on the list for life, required to reregister every 90 days or face a new felony charge, because of a law the state legislature passed in the spring to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection Act. Full Article

Conn. to track 200 paroled burglars

HARTFORD -- More than 200 paroled burglars in Connecticut will be fitted with global tracking devices as part of the state's response to last month's horrific home invasion in Cheshire that claimed the life of a woman and her two daughters.Full Article

Pfizer settles multi-state Neurontin® "off-label" marketing suit for $430 million

"Off-label" prescribing is the practice by which pharmaceutical drugs approved for one use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are prescribed to patients for use in connection with other diagnoses. Obviously, the more conditions a drug is prescribed for, the more of it will be sold and the more money its manufacturer will make. FDA rules require that a drug be proven to be "safe" and "effective" in the treatment of the condition for which it was approved. It doesn't need to be proven to be either safe or effective when used to treat other conditions, however. Full Article

Leslie R. Kershaw
Communications Assistant
Office: (202) 326-6027
Fax: (202) 408-8061
Email: lnelson@naag.org

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