Announcements, information and updates from CWAG Members and Associates
September 13, 2018
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Tuesday, November 27, 2018
We look forward to seeing you at the 2018 CWAG Winter Dinner, Tuesday, November 27, 2018 in Charleston, South Carolina. We invite your participation in this Endowment Dinner benefiting the programs and goals of the Attorneys General.
Attorneys General and private sector supporters will join together for a dinner and informal discussions at The Dewberry Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. This highly personal and engaging dinner includes participation from approximately 25-30 Attorneys General. Attend this year's event and participate in this premier opportunity for exchanging views and forging relationships.
You may register as either a current sponsor using one of your allocations under your annual membership, or as a new sponsor.
If you are an existing sponsor who registered for the 2018 CWAG Annual Meeting, you may use your same registration code to register for the Winter Dinner. If you need your code re-sent to you, please contact Meeting Manager Ale Stephens.
To register online, go to the
2018 CWAG Winter Dinner Registration Website
. Click on "Register" and enter your name, last name and email address, then select your attendee type.
Along the top of the registration site, you will find tabs with complete details about the schedule, hotel accommodations, suggested transportation and more.
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CYBER SECURITY WORKING GROUP MEETING
The next meeting of the Cyber Security Working Group will be held in conjunction with the CWAG Winter Dinner in Charleston, South Carolina at the Dewberry Hotel. The Working Group session will be held on Wednesday, November 28th, from 9:00-11:00 am. A light breakfast will be provided.
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CWAG SPORTS BETTING SEMINAR
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Please Join CWAG Live Online to Watch the 2018 Sports Betting Seminar on October 4th - 5th
As we expect a number of state legislatures to take up this issue in their next few legislative sessions, the Attorneys General will be responsible for providing briefings and opinions to the legislature regarding the legal obstacles and parameters for Sports Betting within their state.
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Articles on topics relevant to the work of Attorneys General around the nation.
(
Note: Subscription may be required for access
.)
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Internet Group Backs ‘National’ Data Privacy Approach
September 12, 2018
A group representing major internet companies
Facebook,
Amazon.com
and
Alphabet
said on Tuesday it backed modernizing
U.S.
data privacy rules but wants a national approach that would preempt California's new regulations that take effect in 2020.
The Internet Association, a group representing more than 40 major internet and technology firms including
Netflix
,
Microsoft
and
Twitter
, said "internet companies support an economy-wide, national approach to regulation that protects the privacy of all Americans."
The group said it backed principles that would ensure consumers should have "meaningful controls over how personal information they provide" is used and should be able to know who it is being shared with.
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Ohio Enacts Law Aimed at Incentivizing Compliance with Well-known Cybersecurity Industry Standards
September, 2018
Squire Patton Boggs
A growing trend among businesses to reduce their exposure to cyberattacks has resulted in substantial improvements in cybersecurity, but has done little to halt the onslaught of post-breach litigation that calls into question the adequacy of the victim-business’ controls. Even organizations with the most robust and mature cybersecurity programs have little hope of avoiding exposure to tort-based litigation following a data breach. New legislation in Ohio, set to go into effect in November, may help ward off litigation against companies that maintain cybersecurity programs in compliance with industry standards.
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AG Balderas Announces Lawsuit Against Tech Giants Who Illegally Monitor Child Location, Personal Data
Google, Twitter, Tiny Lab among Companies Who Unlawfully Market to Children
September 12, 2018
Attorney General Hector Balderas, sued a group of tech companies for illegally tracking children online. The suit, filed against Google, Twitter, Tiny Lab Producions, MoPub, AerServ, InMobi PTE, AppLovin and IronSource, alleges the apps designed by Tiny Lab Productions and marketed by Google in its Play Store are targeted at children and contain illegal tracking software. Federal law makes it illegal to collect personal data from children under 13 without parental consent. This illegal data collection allows Defendants, and whoever they sell this data to, to track, profile, and target millions of children nationwide.
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CWAG Cyber Security Working Group Publishes Safe Harbor Guidelines
All fifty states and the District of Columbia have laws specifically designed to deal with cybersecurity breaches. However, the laws in each state vary widely. The concept of privacy across the globe is fluid. With the official implementation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), companies that operate internationally have been forced to develop complex security systems to accommodate the GDPR’s pro-privacy, pro-user approach. Domestically, security systems that house our data remain complex and widely misunderstood.
In their role, State Attorneys General (AGs) continuously track privacy policies, monitor companies’ compliance with such policies, and sometimes enforce them against companies that abuse the trust consumers place in them. While AGs have traditionally taken a reactive role in data privacy enforcement, opportunities exist for proactive engagement and the development of proper incentives for businesses to voluntarily implement, apply, and maintain robust cybersecurity programs.
The public-private CWAG Cyber Security Working Group has come together to turn their attention from discussions and dialogue, to action. An active group of attorneys general, senior staff, and internal cyber security experts have come to the realization that independently, individual states cannot effectively deal with this criminal activity. In their view, having the ability to coordinate actions across multistate jurisdictions and in collaboration with private sector experts, would lay the foundation for a national cybercrime initiative with teeth.
The Working Group focused on “safe harbor” provisions as a public policy option worth exploring in detail. This paper develops this concept further and attempts to bring structure to the discussion by summarizing the Group’s key findings with respect to “safe harbor” and other pressing policy issues germane to the cybersecurity conversation.
This paper offers those interested in this topic a variety of options when it comes to thinking about this issue. As this is an ever evolving topic, CWAG expects this paper will be updated with comments and considerations in the months to come.
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Watch the CWAG 2018 Annual Meeting Panel:
E Cigarettes and Public Health Challenge or Opportunity
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FDA Chief Considers Ban of All Flavored E-Cigarettes
FDA says underage use of Juul and other e-cigarettes is at epidemic levels
September 12, 2018
Calling a surge in
teen use of e-cigarettes an epidemic
, the head of the Food and Drug Administration said he is considering pulling all flavored e-cigarettes from the U.S. market.
After years of declining U.S. smoking rates, sales of e-cigarettes have jumped in the past year, fueled in part by online startups selling vaporizers and nicotine-laced liquids. The most popular brand, Juul, sells refills with mango, cucumber and creme flavors. Each $4 pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
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Vape-22
E-cigarettes have a proven track record of harm reduction. The FDA’s restrictions on how they can be marketed make it easier for misinformation and panic to spread.
September 11, 2018
E-cigarettes continue to make headlines across the U.S. as science and health officials examine the benefits in reduction in tobacco use against the increase in teen use of the devices.
It’s difficult to say who’s been more addicted to Juul this summer: the teens whose use of the popular e-cigarette has been the subject of countless articles, or the reporters who write them. The sleek device is an easy target for scare stories: It’s colorful, flavorful, and discreet enough to hide from parents and teachers. Health authorities worry that Juul is bringing glamour back to nicotine, as exemplified by extremely 2018 headlines such as “
Malia Obama puffing her Juul is summer goals
.”
Teenage use of e-cigarettes is a legitimate concern to address, but it’s important not to panic. The media’s alarmism obscures a wealth of good public health news: Smoking rates are lower than they’ve ever been, they’re dropping fastest among young cohorts, and young adults actually have a better understanding of the relative risks of conventional and electronic cigarettes than do their elders.
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Tobacco Stocks Jump After FDA Threatens E-Cig Crackdown
September 12, 2018
Tobacco stocks are rallying the most in a decade following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it’s cracking down on e-cigarettes in an effort to combat youth vaping.
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Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman Sues Purdue Pharma for its Role in Creating the Opioid Epidemic
September 6, 2018
Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma L.P. and Purdue Pharma, Inc. alleging that the companies’ fraudulent and deceptive marketing of prescription opioids played a significant role in causing the opioid epidemic ravaging Colorado and the rest of the nation. The lawsuit claims that Purdue misled Colorado health care providers and consumers about the addiction risks associated with prescription opioids and encouraged doctors to prescribe more opioids and at higher doses for longer periods of time. The result was a financial windfall for the company and a historic deadly epidemic that has killed thousands of Coloradans and left many thousands more struggling with opioid addiction.
The complaint alleges that Purdue’s decades-long marketing campaign sought to flood Colorado with prescription opioids. Purdue funded purportedly independent national pain organizations and experts and deployed an army of sales representatives to convince Colorado health care providers, policymakers, and the general public that prescription opioids were safe and effective for treating chronic pain. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that:
- Purdue downplayed the risk of addiction associated with opioids and the extent to which it could be managed;
- Purdue exaggerated the benefits of opioid treatment by overstating their efficacy at treating chronic non-cancer pain and improving patients’ functionality and quality of life;
- Purdue manufactured a fake syndrome called “pseudoaddiction” in order to counter claims that opioids could lead to abuse and addiction;
- Purdue deceptively advised health care professionals that they could manage and avoid addiction in their patients;
- Purdue misrepresented that OxyContin is effective for 12 hours, which led doctors and patients to increase the frequency and dosages of OxyContin and enhance the likelihood of addiction;
- Purdue downplayed the increased risks posed by higher dosages of prescription opioids and advised health care professionals that they were violating their Hippocratic Oath and failing their patients unless they treated pain symptoms with opioids;
- Purdue overstated the efficacy of abuse-deterrent formulations of opioids;
- Purdue downplayed the severity of opioid withdrawal; and
- Purdue misrepresented the risks and benefits of opioids as compared to the risks and benefits associated with alternative pain treatments.
The lawsuit accuses Purdue of violating the Colorado Consumer Protection Act by engaging in fraudulent business practices and creating a public nuisance that endangered the public.
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Vermont Sues Purdue Pharma for its Opioid Marketing Practices
AG Alleges Deceptive and Unfair Acts and Public Nuisance
September 5, 2018
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced that his office filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Vermont Consumer Protection Act and public nuisance law concerning Purdue’s marketing and promotion of opioids. Purdue is the manufacturer of Oxycontin.
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AG Brnovich Takes Action Against Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma
September 10, 2018
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich took legal action against Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the prescription opioid painkiller OxyContin. The filing in Pima County Superior Court alleges that Purdue engaged in deceptive and misleading marketing to push opioids, in violation of a prior court order. In June of this year, the Attorney General's Office notified Purdue of an alleged violation of a previous consent order, a precursor to the action.
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Attorney General Becerra and U.S. Attorney Braverman Announce Sentencing in Illegal Pharmaceutical Drug Trafficking
September 7, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Adam L. Braverman announced the sentencing of Lahkwinder Singh and his corporation, Lovely Singh Inc., related to an investigation associated with the illegal trafficking of pharmaceuticals. Lovely Singh Inc., a company that owns a franchise of Postal Annex, was sentenced for illegally structuring $2.95 million worth of proceeds from pharmaceutical drugs that were trafficked from the U.S.-Mexico border. While doing business as a franchise of shipping company Postal Annex, Lovely Singh Inc. facilitated the shipment of controlled pharmaceutical drugs such as hydrocodone, Xanax and oxycodone through the mail
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Attorney General Becerra Announces Criminal Charges in a Bay Area Labor Exploitation and Human Trafficking Case
September 7, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the arrest and filing of charges against a family of four for human trafficking and other labor-related charges. The four defendants allegedly committed these crimes while operating Rainbow Bright, a California adult residential and child care company.
The defendants— Joshua, 42; Noel, 40; Gerlen, 38; and Carlina Gamos, 67 — were charged with a total of 59 criminal counts, including human trafficking and rape. The defendants targeted members of the Filipino community, many of whom were new to the United States, for labor exploitation. While serving the arrest warrants, agents also seized 14 illegal assault weapons. Of the 14 assault weapons, three were "ghost gun" rifles without serial numbers. Ghost guns allow individuals to bypass background checks and registration regulations.
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Attorney General Becerra Defends Workers in Amicus Brief Involving Rights of Truck Drivers
September 7, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief supporting workers and the California Labor Commissioner’s efforts to ensure that trucking companies do not deny their employees the protections they are entitled to under state law. In the case, Ramirez v. XPO Cartage, Inc., a trucking company is trying to deny employee benefits by asserting that federal regulations in the trucking industry exempt employers from California laws. These important California laws require businesses to reimburse their employees for certain expenses incurred during the course of their employment. The particular expenses in the case include insurance, fuel, truck registration fees, and maintenance costs. In the brief, Attorney General Becerra argues that the State of California has the sovereign right to adopt and enforce employment and labor laws, which are areas of traditional state police power.
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SERVICE MEMBER PROTECTION
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AG Ferguson Files Lawsuit Against Towing Company for Illegally Selling a Service Member’s Car
September 11, 2018
Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against a Tacoma-based towing company for illegally auctioning off a military service member’s vehicle while he was deployed at sea.
The lawsuit, filed in Pierce County Superior Court, asserts the company, Burns Towing Inc., violated the Service Members’ Civil Relief Act, or the SCRA, a federal law that provides special protections to active duty service members. This law requires companies to obtain a court order before seizing or selling property belonging to a service member. Violations of the federal SCRA are also violations of state law — the Washington State Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act.
Veterans and service members who were affected by similar conduct, or any other deceptive business practices, may file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office at
https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint
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Attorney General Becerra and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Dudley Announce Guilty Verdicts in Santa Barbara Oil Spill Criminal Trial
September 7, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced guilty verdicts obtained in
People v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.
regarding the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill in Santa Barbara County, California. After a four-month trial in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, a jury found oil pipeline company Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains) guilty of a felony for failing to properly maintain its dangerous, highly-pressurized pipeline, which led to the discharge of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean.
Plains was also found guilty of eight misdemeanor charges. These include one count of failing to timely call emergency response agencies following this catastrophic oil spill; six counts of killing marine mammals, protected sea birds, and other marine life; and one count of violating a county ordinance prohibiting oil spills.
Plains was found guilty of one felony and eight misdemeanor counts and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 13, 2018.
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Attorney General Coffman and AARP Foundation Elderwatch Warn of Social Security Fishing Scams Targeting Colorado Consumers
September 10, 2018
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman and the AARP Foundation ElderWatch program alerted Colorado consumers about callers claiming to be with the Social Security Administration (SSA). These imposters are claiming to be investigators or attorneys with the SSA and telling consumers that their Social Security account is being used fraudulently. They are urging consumers to call back immediately or risk not getting their Social Security check the next month.
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SEXUAL ASSAULT KIT TESTING
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AG Schimel Announces Testing Completed on Sexual Assault Kits
September 10, 2018
Attorney General Brad Schimel announced that a major milestone has been reached as testing has been completed on all sexual assault kits initially inventoried and designated for testing in Wisconsin’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (WiSAKI). WiSAKI is a statewide effort, voluntarily initiated by Attorney General Schimel, to address the decades-long accumulation of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) that were in the possession of local law enforcement agencies and hospitals across Wisconsin.
All services provided by these agencies are free and confidential. Their services are also available to family members, partners, and friends of survivors who are dealing with their own reactions to a sexual assault. For additional assistance connecting with advocacy and support services, contact the WI Coalition Against Sexual Assault at 608-257-1516 or visit
ByYourSideWI.org
For more information about Attorney General Schimel’s efforts to address the accumulation of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits and to review testing results, go to
www.wisaki.wi.doj.gov
.
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Attorney General Becerra Announces Arrest and Indictments of 32 BullyBoy and CoCo Boy Street Gang Members for Operating $1 Million Fraud Scheme
September 10, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the arrest and indictment of 32 individuals associated with criminal street gangs throughout Northern California known as the
BullyBoys and the CoCo Boys. The gangs and their associates conspired to defraud victims throughout California by hacking the credit card terminals and merchant accounts of dozens of medical and dental businesses.
Attorney General Becerra announced a 240-count indictment that includes: 63 counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft; 54 counts of hacking, computer access and fraud; 56 counts of grand theft; 59 counts of burglary; and eight counts of identity theft. As a result of the investigation approximately 40 stolen credit card terminals were recovered and dozens of receipts depicting fraudulent returns were located. In addition, agents seized other stolen property, such as laptop computers and personal files detailing social security numbers or bank information.
The Attorney General’s eCrime and Fraud and Special Prosecution Units are jointly prosecuting the case resulting from a multiagency investigation by the Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, Walnut Creek Police Department, Antioch Police Department, Vacaville Police Department, Sacramento Police Department, Concord Police Department, San Rafael Police Department, Pittsburg Police Department, Napa Police Department and multiple other law enforcement agencies across Northern California.
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Welcome to the Sponsor Spotlight, where each week CWAG will celebrate one of our private sector partners.
Internet Association is the only trade association that exclusively represents leading global internet companies on matters of public policy.
Our mission is to foster innovation, promote economic growth, and empower people through the free and open internet.
We believe the internet creates unprecedented benefits for society, and as the voice of the world’s leading internet companies, Internet Association works to ensure legislators, consumers, and other stakeholders understand these benefits.
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Updated
American Indian Law Deskbook
Is Now Available
The
American Indian Law Deskbook
is a concise, direct, and easy-to-understand handbook on Indian law. The chapter authors of this book are experienced state lawyers who have been involved in Indian law for many years.
American Indian Law Deskbook
addresses the areas of Indian law most relevant to the practitioner.
Topics include:
- Definitions of Indians and Indian tribes
- Indian lands
- Criminal, civil regulatory, and civil adjudicatory jurisdiction
- Civil rights
- Indian water rights
- Fish and wildlife
- Environmental regulation
- Taxation
- Gaming
- Indian Child Welfare Act and tribal-state cooperative agreements
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Follow the 31 AG Races in 2018 on this Interactive Website
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A significant number of states, 30 and the District of Columbia, have contests for the Office of Attorney General. Cozen O’Connor’s State Attorneys General Practice hosts an interactive map for those interested in following the races throughout the country. The State AG Election Tracker includes state-by-state AG candidate snapshots, filing deadlines and primary election dates; daily news, insights, polling and fundraising data; and the ability to sign up for real-time election-night updates via text and email. Access is free.
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