Program Director James E. Tierney was quoted on the power of the attorney general to protect consumers from faulty marketing by the food industry. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has announced an investigation into whether the "Smart Choice" labels used by some large food and drink manufacturers violate Connecticut consumer protection law. Blumenthal has written letters to Pepsi, General Mills, and Kellogg's over concerns that the labels misstate participating foods' nutritional value.
Law.com's Corporate Counsel featured an in-depth overview of news surrounding the Antitrust Federalism conference, co-sponsored by the National State Attorneys General Program and the National Association of Attorneys General, and held at Columbia Law School. The article, which focused on the renewed spirit of cooperation between state and federal enforcement officials, provided coverage of remarks by the keynote speakers: U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Christine Varney, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, and Federal Trade Commission Chair Jon Leibowitz, as well as panel moderator Stephen Houck, of counsel at Menaker & Hermann LLP and Executive Director of the State Center.
Program director James E. Tierney was featured in The New York Times on June 30, remarking on a Supreme Court decision striking down a rule allowing only federal regulators to enforce consumer protection laws against the nation's biggest banks. Tierney noted that the case was "a stinging defeat for the large banks and federal regulators who have worked for years to stop states from enforcing state consumer protection and antidiscrimination laws.
Dean of Social Justice Programs Ellen Chapnick was featured on CNN on May 27, 2009 to discuss the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Program Director James E. Tierney appeared on Financial 411 on WNYC public radio on April 28 as part of the station's coverage of the Supreme Court's Cuomo v. Clearing House case. The eventual ruling could have wide implications for the role of the states in bank regulation. Tierney discussed the role of the state regulators in consumer protection as relates to the ongoing banking crisis. Click the play button below or visit the WNYC website to listen:
Tierney also discussed the actions of federal and state regulators with The New York Times. Click here to read the Times article. Click here for more information on the Cuomo case.
The April 2009 issue of Governing profiled a wide range of former and current attorneys general in a discussion of the growth and use of the power of the office, in addition to reporting on former AGs who have moved on to other elected offices. James Tierney offered his perspective on AGs' roles in settling litigation. The article can be viewed here.
Iowa Attorney General and Program advisor Tom Miller was featured in The New York Times on February 18, assessing the difficulties in modifying mortgage agreements to reduce payments or avoid foreclosure. Program Director James Tierney was also featured in a January 30 article, in which he discussed the emerging relationships between state attorneys general and the Obama administration.
Obama Seems to be Open to a Broader Role for States January 29, 2009 By John Schwartz "Still, James E. Tierney, the director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University Law School, cautioned against reading too much into a single presidential directive. 'I don’t think we have a hallmark, sweeping view of states’ rights here,' Mr. Tierney said. He said 'the Obama administration is going to take these one at a time' and 'will be with the states as long as the states fit in with his view of the national interest.'"
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7/30/08 Forbes
Forbes: Connecticut Opens New Assault on Credit Agencies July 30, 2008 By: Carl Gutierrez "This is a state filing in a state court, based on a state's unfair trade practices act," said James Tierney, director of the National State Attorney General Program at Columbia Law School and former Maine attorney general. "Yet, because virtually every state has a parallel statute, and virtually every state was rated in a parallel manner, the filing will receive a great deal of attention from other attorney generals."
ABC NEWS: Fighting Back Against Foreclosure April 3, 2008 BYLINE: Jim Avila, Beth Tribolet, Lauren Pearle and Scott Michels “David and Karen Shearon decided to buy their first house so they could give their three children stability and security. … ‘There are some people who are clearly victims of fraud, and judges are reacting differently,’ said James Tierney,Maine's former attorney general and the director of the
National
State Attorneys General Program at
Columbia
Law
School , who was not familiar with the Shearons' case. ‘In the meantime, people are losing their homes. A number of judges are saying, fraud is fraud, and we're not going to let this proceed.’”
NEWS JOURNAL: Del. pays outside lawyers big fees March 9, 2008 BYLINE: Cris Barrish “
Delaware
taxpayers have paid more than $17 million since 2003 to private law firms for work state lawyers are supposed to handle -- from defending against lawsuits and responding to federal investigations to routine tasks such as closing real estate deals. … While no one keeps national statistics about states using outside attorneys, former Maine Attorney General James Tierney said that, except for extraordinary cases, taxpayers' legal work should be performed by government lawyers. ‘It's less expensive, but I don't focus on the money,’ said Tierney, who heads the
NationalState
Attorneys General Program at
ColumbiaUniversityLawSchool
. ‘Government attorneys have a better perspective, and understand their client. They are more apt to realize they represent the public.’”
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE: Stuck with a bad loan, a Staten Island family fights back February 3, 2008 BYLINE: Karen O'Shea “David and Karen Shearon were like many other Staten Islanders stuck with bad loans, collapsing financially under the weight of a crushing mortgage less than a year after buying their first home. … James Tierney, director of the National Attorneys General program at Columbia Law School, said trial judges across the country are beginning to question banks seeking to foreclose on homeowners in similar situations. ‘What I am seeing is a number of trial judges saying, 'Enough is enough, fraud is fraud.' They are kind of taking a stand,’ said Tierney.”
HARVARD CRIMSON: N.Y. Attorney General Launches Investigation of Study Abroad Program January 22, 2008 BYLINE: Kevin Zhou “Harvard officials confirmed Tuesday that they received a subpoena from the New York Attorney General’s Office regarding an investigation into how the University approves contracts for its study abroad program. … It remains unclear how seriously Harvard’s study abroad program will be affected by the probe, according to James E. Tierney, a former Maine Attorney General who is now the director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School, because it appears as though the investigation is still in the fact-gathering stage. ‘It depends on what he finds out,’ said Tierney, referring to Cuomo. ‘The question is what kind of resolution there would be.’ Tierney, who stressed that he was unfamiliar with the details of the case, added that it is not uncommon for attorneys general to investigate institutions in states other than their own. ‘He has the ability to investigate unfair and deceptive practices that have been used against New York residents,’ he said. ‘The basis of his jurisdiction is whether or not
New York
residents have been deceived or harmed in some way.’’’
REUTERS: MySpace and most states agree on Web safety steps January 14, 2008 BYLINE: Martha Graybow and Michele Gershberg ``Popular online teen hangout MySpace and 49 U.S. state attorneys general said on Monday they had agreed on a broad set of guidelines for protecting youths on the Internet. … The agreement is significant because MySpace agreed to changes without any court action, said James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine and director of the
NationalState
Attorneys General Program at
ColumbiaLawSchool
. Tierney was not involved in negotiating the agreement. `It's an interesting way now for the attorneys general to proceed -- nobody has been sued and there was really no threat of a lawsuit though they didn't take it off the table,’ he said. `I think this could be a real template for governmental action in not just the technology area, but other areas as well.’’’
NEW YORK SUN: Cuomo Stands Alone on 2nd Amendment January 14, 2008 BYLINE: Joseph Goldstein ``In arguing that the Second Amendment case now before the Supreme Court shouldn't have any bearing on state gun control laws, Attorney General Cuomo is finding himself largely alone among state attorneys general. … `I could see an attorney general saying that maybe if I come in on the other side, I may be able to find the middle ground and have more credibility with the court,’ a former attorney general of Maine, James Tierney, who now runs the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University, said. `They think the
District of Columbia
is likely to get struck down, but they don't want that decision to go beyond striking down that provision,’ he said.’’
BYLINE: Patrick Marley ``State inmates are using - and many say abusing - an unusual, 168-year-old law to spark often meritless investigations of correctional officers, tying up courts and creating new headaches for officers. … The John Doe law has been on the books since 1839, before Wisconsin became a state. Jim Tierney, a former Maine attorney general, said it was rare for states to allow people other than prosecutors to launch a John Doe. `It's highly unusual and highly disfavored,’ said Tierney, who now runs a program that studies state attorneys general at Columbia Law School in New York.’’
BYLINE: Vikas Bajaj ``A HALF-DOZEN years before subprime mortgages were on the national agenda, Tom Miller, the attorney general of Iowa, led teams of state officials from around the country in negotiating settlements totaling more than $800 million with two large home lenders that were accused of misleading and overcharging borrowers. … And despite his Midwestern pragmatism and laid-back sensibility, Mr. Miller sees a big role for himself and his office on the national stage. In the 1980s he realized that to have an impact on the forces affecting farmers, an important constituency for any Iowa politician, he would have to become involved in issues being decided far from Des Moines, said James E. Tierney, director of the national state attorneys general program at Columbia Law School in New York and a former attorney general of Maine. `He believes that the best interest of Iowa will not be effected only in the four corners of
Iowa
,’ Mr. Tierney said.’’ Back to top
``The Supreme Court appears hesitant to declare unconstitutional the widespread practice among states of giving tax breaks for in-state municipal bonds. … `This issue has been pretty much below the radar,’ the director of the national state attorneys general program at Columbia Law School, James Tierney, said. `If most governors were told they couldn't do this any more, they would say, 'Why not?' I don't think the issue has really percolated to the top of the agenda.’’’
``State attorneys general are stepping up the legal pressure on the mortgage industry, but it is unclear whether their response to the subprime market fallout will actually lead to a glut of lawsuits. … James Tierney, former state attorney general for Maine and the director of the
NationalState
Attorneys General Program for
ColumbiaLawSchool
, believes that the AGs most important role for now will likely not be in the courtroom. `AGs have to prosecute fraud, but that responsibility in this case is, in my judgment, trumped by some broader responsibilities,’ he said. `There's no shortage of fraud in this area, but that's not going to keep people in their homes.’ Public outreach will be critical for state attorneys general as they wade through the mess of foreclosures, according to Tierney…. `There are some people who could get some help through modifications but are not taking advantage of it,’ said Tierney.
``The symbols of racism and intolerance that have rocked
Columbia
over the past several weeks have brought to light an ambiguous gray area in the legal definitions of racially charged episodes. … `It really comes down to intent and results,’ said James Tierney, director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School.”
BYLINE: Richard Luscombe ``One of the first questions both Republican and Democratic politicians were asking this week when the relatively unknown Michael Mukasey was nominated by President George W. Bush as the United States' next attorney general was not so much: ‘Who on Earth is he?’ but `how do you say his surname?’ … `The president doesn't need any more controversy, he needs someone wise as his attorney general, someone acceptable to both sides,’ said James Tierney, director of the national state attorneys general programme at New York's Columbia Law School. `Mukasey is a safe and reasonable appointment based on what we know, but that's why we have these hearings.’’’
BYLINE: Matt Padilla ``James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine, is working with several current attorneys general on the subprime meltdown. He is head of the director of the
NationalState
Attorneys General Program at
ColumbiaLawSchool
. I quizzed him on what he’s doing and how state prosecutors hope to stem the tide of foreclosures and prevent future bad lending practices.’’
LEGAL TIMES: What Does DOJ Need Now? September 3, 2007 BYLINE: Nicholas M. Gess and James E. Tierney ``The next attorney general of the United States will inherit a Department of Justice demoralized by the sidelining of career lawyers who have dedicated their lives to fair law enforcement. Too often replaced by inexperienced political appointees, many senior lawyers in both the criminal and civil divisions, lawyers who have guided former attorneys general of both parties, have retired. Although this administration has precious little time to bring real change, some measures must be undertaken immediately.''
BYLINE: Gary Fields and Ashby Jones ``In seeking a replacement for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Bush administration must find a candidate acceptable to Congress and able to reinvigorate a demoralized, fractured Justice Department. … James Tierney, director of the National State Attorney General Program at Columbia Law School, said a Hatch nomination would be interesting. `People would say he's a politician but I don't think there's a reason to believe he couldn't be an honorable attorney general and that's really what we want,’ Mr. Tierney said.’’
BYLINE: Sean O’Sullivan ``Delaware's congressional delegation reacted to the news of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation with a mix of relief and `I-told-you-so.’ James Tierney, the former attorney general of Maine and now the head of Columbia Law School's National State Attorneys General Program, said the departure marks, `a great day for career law enforcement on the state and federal level.’ He said Gonzales' short tenure has created needless turmoil and disruption for the law enforcement community and `complicated’ numerous cases.’’
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Gonzales Never Figured out His Proper Role August 28, 2007 ``James Tierney is a lecturer in law and the director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School. He served as the attorney general of Maine from 1980-1990 and is a consultant to attorneys general and others regarding state regulatory structures and multistate initiatives. He spoke to The Inquirer about the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who on Monday announced his intention to resign Sept. 17. … James Tierney: `Gonzales viewed himself as the president's lawyer, not as a law enforcement officer. As such, he did not listen to or consider the views or concerns of state and local law enforcement officials, and that has led to policy drift and budget cuts that have had a devastating impact on the safety and security of Americans.’’’
BYLINE: John Gramlich ``He runs a business helping corporate clients influence government policy, but former Nebraska Attorney General Donald Stenberg (R) isn’t listed in the state’s database of registered lobbyists – nor does the law require him to register. … That approach makes lobbying aimed at attorneys general far different from the lobbying directed at legislators, said James Tierney, the former attorney general of Maine and now the director of Columbia University’s National State Attorneys General Program. Direct requests for attorneys general to take a desired action `would be very offensive,’ Tierney said. Instead, lobbyists primarily explain the positions of the companies that pay them, he said, and do not typically make the kind of requests that are more common in the legislative branch.’’
BYLINE: Louise Story and Vikas Bajaj ``Wall Street may have soured on the mortgage business. But on television, radio and the Internet, the industry is as ebullient as ever. … ‘You do get an immediate positive feedback,’ said James E. Tierney, director of the national state attorneys general program at
ColumbiaLawSchool in New York and a former attorney general. ‘But it’s hard to make it a sustainable success since there are so many lenders and ads.’’’
BYLINE: Phil Helsel California has the strictest ``three strikes and you're out’’ law in the country… and some lawmakers here are responding to the brutal July 23 murders in Cheshire by calling for a similar measure. ``I think it's always a mistake to pass legislation in the aftermath of a tragedy," said professor James E. Tierney, director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School and Maine's former attorney general. ``You just don't get it right; solid investment into parole officers, more money for district attorneys -- that's what works.’’
BYLINE: Edward-Isaac Dovere ``In his speech at the Chautauqua Institution August 7, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) spoke of the need for humility in government. … But James Tierney (D), a former attorney general of Maine and the director of
ColumbiaLawSchool
’s
NationalState
Attorneys General Program, said he hoped Spitzer would not go too far. Tierney pointed out that of the nine current governors who had previously served as state attorneys general, Spitzer is the only one without any non-prosecutorial public sector experience. `Eliot’s the über-lawyer,’ he said, explaining that rather than being defined by a hard-charging prosecutorial mentality, he has `more finely-honed skill sets.’’’
Wisconsin attorney general saying she will try the case of Chai Vang, the man accused of fatally shooting six hunters
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
A preliminary hearing comes today for a man accused of killing six hunters in Wisconsin, and the state attorney general says she intends to prosecute this case herself. Pat (ph) Lautenschlager says she will take the rare step of representing the state in court in person. Lautenschlager has also indicated she plans to run for re-election. Legal experts say a win in this case might help her to overcome an embarrassing arrest during her first term. Here's Shawn Johnson of Wisconsin Public Radio.
SHAWN JOHNSON reporting:
The details of the case Lautenschlager will try are gory. Police say Minnesota resident and Mung immigrant, Chai Vang, was hunting on private property in November when the landowner and a group of his friends told him to leave. Prosecutors say Vang started to walk away, then turned back and started shooting, hunting the men down and picking them off with his deer rifle.
It's not the type of case the state's top lawyer usually handles. Attorney General Lautenschlager says she felt it was important to get involved.
Ms. PEG LAUTENSCHLAGER (Attorney General, Wisconsin): I'm a trial court lawyer. I haven't been somebody who settles--experienced with appeals, but I have had a fair amount of experience with trials. And crimes against people are the ones in which I've been most involved in my professional life, and this is one which means a lot to me.
JOHNSON: But it's been a while since Lautenschlager tried a case. During her two years as attorney general, she hasn't tried any. She's spent more time setting the direction for Wisconsin's Department of Justice, suggesting all employers' health plans should cover birth control and that the federal No Child Left Behind Act need not be enforced in Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin law and political science professor, Bert Kritzer, says Lautenschlager has also received plenty of unwanted attention.
Professor BERT KRITZER (University of Wisconsin): She's had some rocky days in office between issues over her use of a state vehicle, the drunk driving charge as well and some health issues.
JOHNSON: Specifically, she's undergone surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer. Lautenschlager has downplayed that battle and she's tried to do the same with her arrest last February.
Ms. LAUTENSCHLAGER: It is something for which I have taken responsibility and
it's something from which I have learned much.
JOHNSON: But that event has been hard for Lautenschlager to shake. Wisconsin's governor, a fellow Democrat, publicly chided Lautenschlager and the two have barely spoken since. The state Republican Party says it fully intends to exploit the incident to campaign against her in 2006. Party Chair Rick Graber is also critical of Lautenschlager's decision to handle the Chai Vang case.
Mr. RICK GRABER (Chairman, Wisconsin Republican Party): Well, I think it's curious and I think it's even more curious that it was announced effectively on the day that she announced that she's running for office again.
JOHNSON: It is rare for an attorney general to try any case.Lautenschlager's predecessor did it before both the state and US Supreme Courts, but Jim Tierney says trial court is a different story. Tierney is the former attorney general of Maine and now teaches at New York's Columbia Law School. He says attorneys general don't look to trial courts for political gain.
Professor JIM TIERNEY (Columbia Law School): Because the risks are too great. Trial is warfare. The juries react differently to different pieces of information. Sometimes they like the idea of an elected official trying a case and sometimes they lean over backwards to discount it.
JOHNSON: There's no telling whether the Vang case will ever go to a jury. Because Wisconsin has no death penalty, legal experts say attorneys on both sides may seek to avoid a trial. Peg Lautenschlager will make her arguments before a judge in a Hayward, Wisconsin, courtroom later this morning.
For NPR News, I'm Shawn Johnson in Madison, Wisconsin.
Look around the political landscape and the degree of Republican control quickly becomes clear
Louis Jacobson
Look around the political landscape and the degree of Republican control quickly becomes clear. The White House and both chambers of Congress are in Republican hands. So are 27 of the 50 governorships, as well as a majority of state Houses and state Senates.
But state attorneys general are another story. In AG offices, Democrats hold a 30-20 lead over Republicans, including a 26-17 edge among attorneys general who are elected rather than appointed.
Democratic AGs have even thrived in otherwise Republican states. Of the 26 elected Democratic AGs, 12 of them - almost half - serve with Republican governors, including AGs in Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Montana.
As a result, Democrats increasingly regard AG offices as a reservoir of political talent, making AG races - once sleepy affairs with only modest input from the national parties - a growing focus of attention.
During the 2000 and 2002 election cycles, five former Democratic AGs won governorships. Another, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, was elected to the Senate. This fall, two Democratic AGs - Colorado's Ken Salazar and Washington state's Christine Gregoire - are running strong campaigns for Senate and governor, respectively.
Over the same time period, by contrast, only one Republican AG moved up to higher office - Sen. John Cornyn (Texas). Democrats also dominate the list of current attorneys general who are frequently cited as rising stars. Topping that list are California's Bill Lockyer, Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal and New York's Elliott Spitzer.
"Many of the AGs who later run for governor have established their reputation with voters as individuals who can get to the bottom of complex state issues," says Nicole Harburger, a spokeswoman with the Democratic Governors Association.
An attorney generalship was not always such a launching pad. For generations, most AGs failed in their efforts to run for higher office.
"There was blood in the hallways - most AGs couldn't even get out of the primaries," recalls James Tierney, who was Maine's attorney general from 1980 to 1990 and who now directs the state attorneys general program at Columbia Law School.
The problem, Tierney says, is that "when you're an AG, you walk on a razor blade every day." The smallest oversight, or an unpopular stance taken to fulfill the office's mission, can torpedo a candidacy, he says.
Now, though, AGs in both parties are eager to take the offensive. Bolstered by the emergence of "devolution" as a rallying cry in Congress and the Supreme Court, AGs are undertaking so many investigations and lawsuits that mid-level staff sometimes feel ragged, insiders say.
The prosecutions coming out of AG offices may (or may not) serve the public good, but thanks to the headlines they generate, they're likely to boost an AG's ambitions.
"Someone like Spitzer has good state laws to work with, and is willing to be aggressive, take chances, and has people behind him," says Jeff Modisett, a former Democratic attorney general of Indiana who is now a lawyer in Los Angeles. "With that kind of momentum, you tend to get people willing to settle because they don't want to face him."
Modisett adds that today's state AGs are much more skillful about coordinating their investigatory and enforcement actions. "That gives you much more leverage, power and visibility," he says. "That lends itself to activist AGs."
To be sure, the Democrats don't have a lock on AGs offices. In fact, Republicans say with some justification that the Democratic hold on AG offices is slipping. One Democrat acknowledges that his party "was behind the 8-ball" in aiding AG races nationally and is only now catching up.
In mid-1999, the GOP established the Republican Attorneys General Association to serve as a fundraising and campaign-coordination arm. The Democrats didn't form an equivalent group, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, until 2002.
During the 2000 and 2002 election cycles, money and leadership from RAGA helped boost the number of Republican AGs from 12 to 20. The victories included pivotal takeovers in Florida and Michigan.
"Our goal is to get a majority of AGs and maintain it," says Tim Barnes, the executive director of RAGA's parent, the Republican State Leadership Committee. "We want to be able to do it by 2006."
In this quest, Republican AGs have been aided by pro-business groups. These groups perceive Democratic AGs as a potential threat to businesses small and large because of historic Democratic ties to the plaintiffs' bar.
"For many years, trial lawyers were very adept at infiltrating the political process, including state Supreme Court races and AGs," said Sean McBride, the vice president of communications with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, which has been involved in selected AG races during the past few cycles. "They understood fairly early on the value of having kindred spirits for their agenda. But in recent years, the business community has been better coordinated and is increasingly taking a look at both Supreme Court and AG races."
McBride said that his group is weighing which of this November's 11 AGs races it will get involved in.
If Republicans are touting the economic danger of unfettered lawsuits, Democrats are emphasizing the danger of out-of-control corporations. While Republican AGs, like Democratic AGs, have often taken a tough line against business malfeasance, Republicans sometimes find it trickier to run as anti-business crusaders.
"Voters seem to be looking for an AG who can be a defender of consumer rights, an opponent of antitrust mergers, and someone who can protect the elderly from fraud and abuse," Modisett says. "Those are issues that, if you stereotype or generalize, are more traditionally front-and-center Democratic issues."
Fortunately for the Democrats, their argument has been playing well with the public, aided by a string of corporate disasters including Enron, MCI and the Internet bust. While New York's Spitzer has made the biggest splash by taking on Wall Street insiders, other AGs have adopted a get-tough approach on frauds, scams, telemarketers and other controversial business activities.
"The Democrats have gotten through to voters that they are as tough on crime as Republicans, and they have been able to portray themselves more activist in going after companies that are considered negative to the environment and consumers," says Harvey Englander, a Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant.
Englander points to Lockyer, whose Web site touts his efforts to pursue "hundreds of suits against energy raiders ... predatory lenders, miscreant title companies, deceptive credit card marketers, and living-trust mills," as well as his rejuvenation of "once- dormant" environmental sections of his office. Lockyer is highly touted for governor in 2006, especially if Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) forgoes a new term.
The assumption that Democrats will more effectively target harmful business practices seems to extend to state insurance commissioners, as well. Of the 11 elected insurance commissioners in the United States, seven are Democrats.
For instance, California's insurance commissioner, John Garamendi, is considered a potential gubernatorial rival of Lockyer. In his first term as commissioner, Garamendi boasts, his reforms delivered $1 billion in rebates to policyholders.
One former insurance commissioner, Democrat Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, has already used the post as a launching pad for the governorship. Sebelius forcefully opposed a planned takeover of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas by an Indiana-based insurer - a stance that "had no political downside," says University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis. "Standing up to corporate interests was pretty popular," especially when Sebelius successfully marshaled state pride to defeat an out-of-state company. The episode "worked marvelously" for her gubernatorial ambitions, Loomis says.
Not every issue has worked equally well. One highly publicized AG crusade in the late 1990s - the states' lawsuit against the tobacco companies - didn't do much for the political careers of several prominent AGs.
In 1998, Minnesota AG Skip Humphrey (D) lost the governor's race to Jesse Ventura (I); Massachusetts AG Scott Harshbarger (D) lost a gubernatorial bid to Paul Cellucci (R); and incumbent New York AG Dennis Vacco (R) lost his seat to Spitzer. Mississippi AG Mike Moore never even made a bid for higher office, even though he had been expected to.
The problems of the settlement were epitomized by former Texas AG Dan Morales (D). A year after making an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002, Morales was sentenced to four years in federal prison for conspiring to divert hundreds of millions of dollars of tobacco-settlement fees.
"Tobacco turned out not to be a political windfall," says one expert on state attorneys general. "The public doesn't understand $200 billion. They didn't see the benefit. What has worked is forcing businesses to change their practices in addition to paying money. It translates to consumers that the AG has done something for them."
That approach, the expert adds, has been followed by such rising- star Republican AGs as Jim Petro of Ohio and Greg Abbott of Texas. When running for the Senate in 2002, "Cornyn campaigned as if he'd been Elliott Spitzer," Tierney says. Regardless of party, he says, "you are expected to be an activist, to have done something for people."
Such efforts underscore how, despite the rugged partisanship seen during the election season, AGs tend to act in much the same way once they're in office. Most multistate actions are bipartisan, and every AG, out of duty to his office, is regularly forced to argue cases that they - and their supporters - personally disagree with.
"Just by doing their job, AGs become too conservative for Democrats and too liberal for Republicans," Tierney says. "Republicans see them as anti-business, and Democrats complain that they're in favor of the death penalty."
Despite the Republicans' significant gains in the 2000 and 2002 cycles, Democrats pulled off an unexpected sweep of AG posts in 2003, winning in Kentucky and Mississippi even as the party lost its hold on the governorship. The Democratic AG candidate also won in Louisiana - another state where Democrats are hardly shoo-ins these days. In each case, the Democrats beat well-funded Republicans.
Regardless of how this fall's races turn out, analysts sense a change in how AGs are elected, now that RAGA and DAGA have gotten involved.
"For years, AG was a 'row race,'" Tierney says. "It didn't get a lot of publicity or money, and if you looked at the votes, they [didn't deviate much] from the secretary of state race. But as more money and attention is devoted to these races, that's changed."
Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline PLC misled consumers and committed fraud by suppressing clinical studies that raised doubts about the safety and effectiveness of its top-selling antidepressant Paxil when used to treat children and adolescents, New York state Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer alleged in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The complaint filed in New York state Supreme Court alleges that Glaxo systematically withheld negative information about the drug, also known as paroxetine. While the company's representatives and sales literature drew attention to a single study that showed Paxil had positive results, they hid four other studies, the complaint says. Unmentioned were studies that that found no clear evidence that the drug is effective in minors and that suggested it could increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.
The complaint cites a 1998 internal Glaxo memo that said the company's "target" was to "effectively manage the dissemination of these data in order to minimize any potential negative commercial impact."
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved Paxil for use by children, and Glaxo is not allowed to market the drug for minors. But doctors can prescribe Paxil for children as a "off-label" use. More than 2.1 million paroxetine prescriptions for children were written in 2002, the complaint says.
The complaint also alleges that Glaxo gave sales representatives copies of the positive study with a cover memo that said, "Paxil demonstrates REMARKABLE Efficacy and Safety in the treatment of adolescent depression."
available to the FDA and regulatory agencies worldwide. We have publicly communicated data from all pediatric studies. As for the 1998 memo, it is inconsistent with the facts and does not reflect the company position."GlaxoSmithKline said in a written statement that the firm "has acted responsibly in conducting clinical studies in pediatric patients and disseminating data from those studies. All pediatric studies have been made
The unpublished studies cited in the Spitzer lawsuit have been under discussion in the medical world for some time. British regulators cited them last year last year when they warned doctors against prescribing Paxil and several other popular antidepressants to children. The FDA recently urged doctors to watch patients carefully for suicidal behavior in the first weeks after prescribing antidepressants and ordered further study of possible connections between the drugs and suicide risk.
A separate study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health found that the antidepressant Prozac reduced the risk of suicide in teenagers, especially when combined with psychotherapy. Prozac is approved by both U.S. and British regulators for use in children.
In the case of Paxil, Spitzer is arguing that Glaxo's sales representatives had a duty to discuss the negative studies when promoting the drug.
"The manufacturer cannot rely exclusively on the positive study. . . . Where they affirmatively state this drug is 'remarkably' efficacious and safe, and they are withholding information that challenges that, that's wrong," Spitzer said in an interview.
Like previous investigations of biased research on Wall Street and trading abuses in the $7.5 trillion mutual fund industry, Spitzer's lawsuit uses New York law to take on an issue generally the province of federal regulators, particularly the FDA.
But Spitzer argued that "off label" uses, prescribed without FDA approval, are in a gray area and that he is just trying to make sure that doctors have the information they need.
"The last thing that I should be doing is making clinical decisions about which medicines are good or bad," Spitzer said. "We don't want to discourage off-label uses, we just want more complete information."
An FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit. Under federal law, when drug companies run studies of their drugs' effectiveness against new illnesses or in new population groups, they must submit the results to the FDA. But the data are considered proprietary commercial information and do not have to be disclosed publicly unless the FDA determines that important issues of safety are involved.
Some medical organizations and patients groups have become increasingly concerned that the drug companies are hiding information that doctors and patients need.
"A lot of these negative studies do get buried, and it's intentional. That's not a particular concern if it's a drug in the early stages [of testing] and hasn't been approved. But this is in use," said Wayne K. Goodman, a University of Florida psychiatry professor who sat on the FDA advisory committee that reviewed studies of antidepressants and adolescent suicide last winter.
Several medical groups and experts in adolescent psychiatry said they supported Spitzer's goals but did not know enough about New York law to comment on the lawsuit itself.
"Physicians, researchers and patients need and are entitled to as much information as possible to make decisions about treatment," said David G. Fassler, a Vermont psychiatrist who is on the council of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "The issue is significant and important. It doesn't just relate to psychiatry and antidepressants."
Outside legal experts said Spitzer appears to be on solid legal ground by bringing his case under the state's law against consumer fraud. States have a history of bringing legal actions against drug companies over pricing and marketing. Just last month a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. paid $430 million to settle federal and state investigations into the way it promoted the drug Neurontin.
"It is not unusual for state attorneys general to be involved in pharmaceutical cases, and it is not unusual for them to bring cases against unfair and deceptive practices," said James E. Tierney, who heads Columbia Law School's National State Attorneys General Program. "This is a natural outgrowth."
By Pam Belluck; Katie Zezima contributed reporting for this article
Same-sex couples living in states where laws ban gay marriage will not be able to marry in Massachusetts, the state's attorney general said Tuesday.
Although the state's top court has ordered that gay and lesbian couples can begin marrying in Massachusetts on May 17, the attorney general, Thomas F. Reilly, said an obscure 1913 state law prevented the state from issuing marriage licenses to couples who are not eligible to be married in their home states...
...Mr. Reilly was at the center of another controversy over gay marriage Tuesday, when he once again refused Gov. Mitt Romney's request to ask the court to push back the start for gay marriages from May 17.
Mr. Romney asked Mr. Reilly to seek a stay after the state legislature voted on Monday to approve a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and create civil unions for same-sex couples. That amendment cannot take effect unless it is approved again in the 2005-2006 legislative session and is then approved by the voters in November 2006.
So unless Mr. Romney, a Republican who opposes gay marriage, can find a way to delay the court's ruling, same-sex marriages will be permitted for at least two years before an amendment can ban them.
On Monday night, Mr. Reilly, a Democrat who also opposes gay marriage, said that although he disagreed with the court's decision, he could not find any legal grounds for asking the court to issue a stay.
Mr. Romney repeated his request on Tuesday, sending a letter to Mr. Reilly asking him to appoint a special assistant attorney general to file the action on behalf of the governor if Mr. Reilly was reluctant to do so. "It is not right for the attorney general to leave the governor and the people of Massachusetts without recourse to the courts on a matter of critical importance," Mr. Romney wrote.
At a news conference, Mr. Romney said the Supreme Judicial Court had taken eight months to reach a decision on the case legalizing same-sex marriage, and "I think the people of Massachusetts have the right to have the same level of time and respect."
Mr. Reilly held his own news conference later on Tuesday. "Whether the governor likes it or not, whether I agree with the decision, the plaintiffs have won their case," said Mr. Reilly, who represented the state in that case and unsuccessfully argued against gay marriage. "And they are entitled to the rights that they have won. And I will not stand in their way. My job is to enforce the law, and I will do that. The governor's job is to implement the law of this state and I expect him to do that."
Mr. Reilly, who is often mentioned as a potential candidate for governor in 2006, when Mr. Romney is likely to seek re-election, said on Tuesday, "We have based our decision on the law and not politics."
Ann Donlan, a spokeswoman for Mr. Reilly, said the attorney general and his staff had evaluated the merits of asking the court for a stay after it issued two rulings legalizing gay marriage. They concluded that the court would probably decide that there was greater harm in denying same-sex couples marriage for more than two years than there was in compelling them to change their status should the amendment pass.
"We've already been before the court twice and made just about every potential argument that one can make," she said, "and all of the arguments have been soundly rejected." Asserting that the court would consider an amendment's chance of passage "highly speculative," she said, "It's not clear that another legislature would approve the same amendment next year and that once it got on the ballot voters would pass it."
Many legal scholars agree that a stay is highly unlikely. James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who now directs the attorney general program at Columbia Law School, said Mr. Reilly would be jeopardizing the credibility of his office if he sought a stay when he did not believe it was legally justified.
"The court will see instantly what this is and they won't like it," Mr. Tierney said. "This would kind of cheapen all the other cases that the office of the attorney general has in front of that court."
