Recent Attorney General Powers and Duties Cases—In Brief | 2nd Quarter 2023
Arkansas—Johnson, a death-row prisoner, sought post-conviction DNA testing of pieces of evidence found at the crime scene under Arkansas’ Act 1780. The Arkansas supreme court affirmed a trial court’s denial of Johnson’s petition, holding that Act 1780 only authorizes DNA testing “if it can provide materially relevant evidence that will significantly advance the petitioner’s claim…
Only Attorney General, Not Other Attorneys for the State, May Submit Evidence on Review of State Records
Plaintiff, the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, sought a default judgment against defendant, alleging that after the agency conducted two audits of the defendant’s retail store, plaintiff imposed fines on defendant for violations of New York’s agricultural laws, and defendant failed to respond. The court found that there was…
Recent Texas Decisions on Plaintiffs’ Standing to Sue the Attorney General
Several recent decisions have addressed the Texas attorney general’s role in enforcing state statutes and whether plaintiffs challenging those statutes have standing to sue the attorney general. The question of whether the attorney general is a proper party and may be sued has been addressed in three recent Fifth Circuit decisions as well as a…
Minnesota Attorney General CID to Political Action Committee Not Preempted
Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the Minnesota Attorney General’s authority to investigate potential consumer violations by a federal political action committee (PAC), finding that Minnesota law was not preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). WinRed v. Ellison, No. 22-1238 (8th Cir. Feb. 7, 2023). WinRed…
New Jersey Attorney General Relationship to County Prosecutors and the Open Public Records Act
In the context of an open records lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey (CPANJ), the New Jersey Superior Court analyzed the relationship between the attorney general of New Jersey and the county prosecutors to determine whether CPANJ was a public entity. ACLU v. County Prosecutors Ass’n, 2022 N.J….
Pennsylvania Attorney General May Take Litigation Position Different from State Agency, Ethics Rules Apply
In Synthes USA HQ Inc. v. Commonwealth, 2023 LEXIS 230, (Mar. 22, 2023), Pennsylvania’s Supreme court affirmed the authority of the Pennsylvania attorney general to take a position in litigation different from that of a state agency, while also providing a rare analysis of the application of attorney ethics rules to attorney general practice. The…
Indiana Governor May Retain Counsel without Attorney General’s Consent
The Indiana General Assembly enacted a law that allowed it to call itself into emergency session and overrode the Governor’s veto. The Governor sued the legislature, challenging the law as “unconstitutionally co-opting a purely executive function.” The Governor argued that under the state constitution, only the Governor can call an emergency session, and this law,…
California Private Attorney General Statute Does Not Usurp Attorney General Powers
A lobbying group for small and mid-sized businesses challenged California’s Labor Code Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). PAGA “allows California employees to sue their employers and pursue civil penalties on behalf of the state for violations relating not only to themselves, but also to other California employees of the same employer.” PAGA is a qui…
Court Affirms States’ Parens Patriae Standing in Antitrust Case
Forty-nine states sued 20 manufacturers of generic drugs, alleging an anticompetitive scheme to “fix, maintain, and stabilize prices, rig bids, and engage in market and customer allocations” of certain generic pharmaceuticals. The district court recently decided defendants’ motion to dismiss, holding that although the states could not seek disgorgement, they do have parens patriae standing…
Recent Case Briefs: Attorney General Powers and Duties
The fourth edition of the most authoritative and complete source for information about state attorney general offices.
