Arizona State Land Dep’t v. McFate, 348 P.2d 912 (Ariz. 1960)
Arizona Attorney General challenged a land sale by the state’s Public Lands Department. The court held that the Attorney General of Arizona had no common law powers and that the Attorney General should act as advisor to state agencies, and their legal work must be done by him or by persons chosen by him. The…
City of York v. Pennsylvania Public Util. Comm’n, 295 A.2d 825 (Pa. 1972)
The Attorney General’s powers of intervention,under statute and at common law, are broad. However, to allow the Attorney General to intervene as an appellant in an appeal from an order of the Public Utility Commission would create an irreconcilable conflict of interest and thus cannot be permitted
Hawaii v. Standard Oil Co., 405 U.S. 251, 265 (1972)
Attorney general has common law power to bring antitrust action
Commonwealth ex rel. Hancock v. Paxton, 516 S.W.2d 865 (Ky. 1974).
Attorney general may lawfully question the constitutionality of a state law, and the court rejected a contention that the attorney general’s duties were limited to representing the “Commonwealth,” that is, the hierarchy of officers, departments, and agencies heading the executive branch of government. The court said: It is true that at common law the duty…
Feeney v. Commonwealth, 366 N.E.2d 1262 (Mass. 1977)
State supreme court confirmed “[t]he authority of the attorney general as chief law officer, to assume primary control over the conduct of litigation which involves the interests of the Commonwealth.” This policy protects the interests of the state as a whole as a unitary client, rather than any one of the many potential agency manifestations…
Connecticut Commission on Special Revenue v. Connecticut Freedom of Information Comm’n, 387 A.2d 533, 537 (Conn. 1979).
“The attorney general is in a “unique position . . . . This special status of the attorney general where the people of the state are his clients cannot be disregarded in considering the application of the code of professional responsibility to the conduct of his office.” The court refused to find that the attorney…
Alfred Snapp and Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico, 458 U.S. 592 (1982)
To pursue a claim as parens patriae for its citizens, the Supreme Court held that “The state must demonstrate (1) a quasi-sovereign interest and (2) “more . . . than injury to an identifiable group of individual residents.” The requisite quasi-sovereign interest may lie in the state’s interest in the physical and economic health and…
Hladys v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 366 S.E.2d 98 (Va. 1988)
Assistant attorneys general may represent different state agencies or parts of state agencies. Virginia Supreme Court held, the official conduct of assistant attorneys general is “entitled to a presumption of honesty and fairness no less than that accorded to acts of other public officials” and that without a showing of bias or improper conduct, impartiality…
Fund Manager, Public Safety Personnel Retirement System v. Corbin, 778 P.2d 1244 (Ariz. Ct. Apps. 1989)
Arizona Court of Appeal held that although “the attorney general has a duty to uphold the constitutionality of enactments of the Arizona legislature. . . . as “chief legal officer of the state,” the Attorney General also has a duty to uphold the Arizona and United States Constitutions. The court also held, “We are aware…
Fisher v. Iowa Board of Optometry Examiners, 510 N.W.2d 873, 877 (Iowa 1994).
the court held that the fact that an assistant attorney general advised a medical board or rulemaking and complaint issuance and also sought a rehearing in a disciplinary hearing did not give rise to a due process violation. The court said, “We fail to see how the assistant attorney general caused the board to become…
