Announcements, information and updates from CWAG Members and Associates

October 18, 2018
CWAG WINTER DINNER
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.

To register as a new sponsor, review the 2018 Membership Information Package and contact Meeting Manager Ale Stephens.

Along the top of the registration site, you will find tabs with complete details about the schedule, hotel accommodations, suggested transportation and more.
 
~CWAG Meeting Manager Ale Stephens, astephens@cwagweb.org  or 303.304.9206
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.
 
Please RSVP directly to Lauren Niehaus at  LNiehaus@cwagweb.org  to attend our next session. Please be sure to separately register for the Winter Dinner on the  CWAG 2018 Winter Dinner Registration Website .
HOT TOPICS
Articles on topics relevant to the work of Attorneys General around the nation.
( Note: Subscription may be required for access .)
ANTITRUST REGULATION
Attorney General Becerra: We Must Be Forward-Thinking in Antitrust Regulation and Enforcement
Multistate Coalition Submits Comment to Federal Trade Commission on Future of Antitrust Protections  
October 11, 2018
 
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, presented recommendations to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to advance antitrust enforcement and consumer protection. The attorneys general submitted the comment letter as part of the FTC’s public hearings on  Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century . The hearings focus on whether broad-based changes are required for the enforcement of consumer protections. In the letter, the multistate coalition offered perspective on the status of antitrust enforcement issues, including potential threats and new opportunities.
 
In the letter, the coalition offers recommendations on how to strengthen regulation in seven key antitrust areas, including:
  • Competition and consumer protection in communications, technology, and digital networks;
  • Identification and measurement of market power, barriers to entry, and the evolution of collusive, exclusionary, or predatory conduct;
  • Intersection between privacy, big data, and competition, as well as harms arising from the collection of data by large firms controlling much of the market;
  • Evaluation of the competitive effects of corporate acquisitions and mergers;
  • Evidence and analysis of markets controlled primarily by one buyer;
  • The role of intellectual property and competition policy in promoting innovation; and consumer welfare associated with the use of algorithmic decision, artificial intelligence, and predictive analysis. 
DATA PRIVACY
Privacy Advocates Tell Senators What They Want in a Data Protection Law
They want to hold tech companies accountable for compromising your privacy.
October 10, 2018
 
Privacy  advocates and tech giants like Google, Amazon and Apple all want a federal privacy law.
 
But there's a difference in how they want it written.
While tech companies essentially want  a federal privacy law to be a ceiling  that would limit how far states could go with their own privacy rules, privacy advocates want it to be more of a floor that states can build on.
 
Two weeks after representatives from AT&T, Amazon, Google, Twitter, Apple and Charter Communications  testified to Congress on a federal privacy law , lawmakers on Wednesday listened to what privacy advocates want from the potential  legislation .
 
During the hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, privacy advocates stressed the need for a federal privacy law that could work in tandem with state laws instead of overwriting them.
CVS-AETNA MERGER
How a CVS-Aetna Merger Might Actually Put Money in Your Pocket
October 11, 2018
 
When two large and similar health care companies merge, the economic story tends to be pretty simple: They use their added power in the market to increase prices and profits. Consumers come out behind. At least this is true of horizontal mergers, like when an insurer buys an insurer or a hospital system buys a hospital system.

But  vertical  mergers between companies that make up different links along the health-care chain — like the  just-approved merger between the pharmacy retailer CVS and the insurer Aetna  — are more likely, under the right conditions, to produce benefits for consumers.
OPIOID CRISIS
Utah Opioid Solutions Summit a Success
October 12, 2018
 
The co-chairs of the Utah Opioid Task Force hosted the 5th Annual Solutions Summit: Instead – Connecting for a Cure. Over 5,000 students, educators, healthcare officials, and community members were in attendance at the event presented by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, DEA 360 Program Director Brian Besser, and others.
 
The summit focused on combatting the opioid epidemic in the state of Utah and educating high schoolers on the dangers of opioid use by giving them real-time resources to stop addiction before it starts.
 
The general session focused on enabling communication and support across the various communities involved in combating the crisis.
STUDENT PROTECTION
Attorney General Becerra Leads Multistate Coalition in Filing Amicus Brief in Support of Students Defrauded by Corinthian Colleges 
October 11, 2018
 
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of eight states, has filed an amicus brief in support of students defrauded by Corinthian Colleges (Corinthian). The brief, filed in the  Calvillo Manriquez v. DeVos  case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, supports a district court’s order halting the U.S. Department of Education (Department) from its practice of giving only partial relief to defrauded students. The Department has been granting as little as 10 percent loan relief to students who attended the now-defunct, predatory, for-profit Corinthian. The Department has appealed the court’s decision. Attorney General Becerra has a pending, related action against the Department and its Secretary.
 
Joining him are attorneys general from Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York and Washington.
TAX CREDIT FRAUD SETTLEMENT
Attorney General Rosenblum Announces Settlement with SolarCity and Novogradac Over Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit Program
October 11, 2018
 
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced the State of Oregon received $13 million in a major settlement with both solar developer Tesla Energy Solutions (formerly known as SolarCity) and its accounting firm, Novogradac & Company LLP. The settlement resolves allegations that SolarCity and Novogradac together submitted false applications to the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE), resulting in more than $10 million in unjustified Business Energy Tax Credits (BETC).
HUMAN TRAFFICKING SCREENING
Attorney General Laxalt Releases Nevada’s Law Enforcement Screening Tool for Human Trafficking Survivors
October 11, 2018
 
Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that his office has created a Law  Enforcement Screening Tool for Victims of Human Trafficking . The tool aids law enforcement working with suspected survivors of human trafficking to better investigate human trafficking crimes.
 
Survivors of human trafficking are often arrested, detained, prosecuted and convicted without ever being identified as victims. Many of these survivors are left to deal with issues of criminalization and the stigma that follows them long after they have escaped exploitation. The screening tool provides law enforcement with a series of questions to better determine whether law enforcement contact is related to sex or labor trafficking, and the circumstances in the survivor’s lives surrounding prior contacts with law enforcement.
DEATH PENALTY
Washington State Supreme Court Declares Death Penalty Unconstitutional, Citing Racial Bias
October 11, 2018

Washington state's Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was inconsistently applied, making Washington the 20th state in the US to outlaw capital punishment.

The court said the death penalty's use varied depending on the location of the crime or the race of the accused -- a violation of the state's constitution. Budgetary resources and county of residence were also contributing factors, the ruling said.

The state has eight prisoners on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and the ruling said all their death sentences would be changed to life in prison.
AG Ferguson Releases Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Death Penalty
October 11, 2018
 
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson released the following statement on the state Supreme Court’s  decision in  State v. Gregory,  ruling that the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional:
 
“Washington’s Supreme Court issued an important decision. The court recognized that Washington state’s death penalty is broken. We should act quickly to remove the death penalty from state law once and for all. Next session, I will again propose legislation repealing the death penalty, replacing it with life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
 
Ferguson first  proposed bipartisan legislation  in 2017 to abolish the death penalty in Washington state.
CONGRATULATIONS
U.S. Senate Confirms Jason Dunn As Next U.S. Attorney for Colorado
Dunn moves from powerful lobbying law firm to become top federal prosecutor in Colorado
October 12, 2018

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jason Dunn as the next U.S. attorney for Colorado, putting President Donald Trump’s nominee into the position.

The Senate confirmed Dunn with a voice vote on Thursday evening, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s office said. It is unclear when Dunn will be sworn in.

Dunn has worked in the public and private sectors, but his resume does not include extensive experience in criminal law. He was a deputy attorney general and assistant solicitor under the administration of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers (R).
AILD
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
AG ELECTION TRACKER
Follow the 31 AG Races in 2018 on this Interactive Website
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.
CWAG | INFO@CWAGWEB.ORG | (916) 210-7640 | WWW.CWAGWEB.ORG