Recent Decisions on CID Enforcement
A number of recent decisions have addressed the enforcement of civil investigative demands (CIDs) and subpoenas issued by attorneys general. Massachusetts: A Massachusetts decision addressed the question of personal jurisdiction over the recipient of a CID issued by the Massachusetts attorney general. The state contracted with IDDC for protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic. IDDC…
Attorney General Remedies Under Iowa Consumer Fraud Act Are Equitable, Not Legal, Do Not Require Jury Trial
The Iowa supreme court recently analyzed the state’s consumer protection statute and found that the attorney general’s enforcement of the statute does not require a jury trial because they are equitable, rather than legal. The Iowa attorney general sued several companies, alleging false and misleading claims in violation of Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) and…
Illinois Attorney General Must Produce Documents from Non-Party State Agencies
The state of Illinois sued Monsanto and several other companies alleging that they contaminated the environment by producing toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and caused environmental harm to the state’s air, water, wildlife and natural resources. Monsanto sought discovery from state agencies, arguing that that Illinois attorney general has a legal right to obtain those documents…
D.C. Court of Appeals Issues Decision on the Stored Communications Act and Attorney General Investigations
The D.C. Court of Appeals issued a detailed decision about the interplay between the Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701 to 2711, and a subpoena issued by the D.C attorney general pursuant to the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) (D.C. Code §§28-3901-3913). The District of Columbia attorney general issued a subpoena to…
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Michigan Attorney General May Select Venue for Suit Representing State Agency
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) as well as other federal, state, local and nongovernmental entities, reached an agreement in 1997 governing hydroelectric power projects in the Menominee River Basin, which includes northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This agreement, the Wilderness Shores Settlement Agreement (WSSA), provided that Wisconsin Electric (WE) agreed…
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….
