Issuing formal opinions to state agencies. Acting as public advocates in areas such as child support enforcement, consumer protections, antitrust and utility regulation. Proposing legislation.
Can a state Attorney General enforce federal law?
The Attorney General’s Duty to Defend and Enforce Constitutionally Objectionable Legislation The Attorney General has a duty to defend and enforce both the Acts of Congress and the Constitution; when there is a conflict between the requirements of the one and the
What is the role of the Attorney General?
The Office of the Attorney General Enforces the Order When child support payments aren't made, the Office of the Attorney General can take many actions to enforce the court order. These can include court action, license suspension, credit reporting, passport denial and more.
Are attorney generals chief law enforcement officers of the state?
Law Enforcement. The Office of the Attorney General conducts criminal investigations and apprehensions including cases involving cyber-crimes such as child pornography, online solicitation of minors, identity theft, election fraud, locating and apprehending convicted sex offenders who have failed to comply with mandated sex offender registration requirements, …
What kind of law does the New York attorney general use?
the attorney-general entirely responsible for the prosecution of those who violate state criminal laws,8 but it is more usual to require or permit only occasional participation by the attorney-general in the general process of criminal law enforcement or to impose upon his
What power does the US attorney general have?
As the chief officer of the Department of Justice, the attorney general enforces federal laws, provides legal counsel in federal cases, interprets the laws that govern executive departments, heads federal jails and penal institutions, and examines alleged violations of federal laws.
What is the role of an Attorney General?
The role of the Attorney General is defined in section 51 of the Constitution of Botswana, as the principal legal adviser to the Government. The Attorney General is also an ex-officio Member of Cabinet, and serves on various policy level committees.
What does the attorney general do in Canada?
The Attorney General protects the interests of the Crown by litigating on behalf of the Crown and by providing legal advice to the Government, departments and agencies of government. ... The Attorney General is supported in this role by the Director of Public Prosecutions.Aug 9, 2021
What does the US Attorney General investigate?
AGs investigate and bring actions under their states' respective unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices laws (“UDAP laws”). UDAP laws tend to broadly prohibit “deceptive” or “unconscionable” acts against consumers.
What is the difference between Attorney General and Solicitor General?
The attorney general is usually a highly respected senior advocate of the court, and is appointed by the ruling government. ... The solicitor general is the second law officer of the state after the attorney general.Jan 14, 2006
Who does the Attorney General report to Canada?
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of CanadaMinister of Justice Attorney General of CanadaMember ofParliament Privy Council CabinetReports toParliament Prime MinisterAppointerMonarch (represented by the governor general); on the advice of the prime ministerTerm lengthAt Her Majesty's pleasure10 more rows
What does the R stand for in RV accused?
"R" stands for Regina, which is Latin for the Queen. The Crown of Canada (aka Regina) is thus a party to the case.
What is the role of Alberta Justice?
Legal Services to the Provincial Government – Alberta Justice provides legal advice and assistance to all government ministries, and represents them, if necessary, in matters before the courts and tribunals.
What can the Attorney General do to enforce child support?
The Office of the Attorney General Enforces the Order. When child support payments aren't made, the Office of the Attorney General can take many actions to enforce the court order. These can include court action, license suspension, credit reporting, passport denial and more.
How many licensing agencies does OAG have?
The OAG works with over 60 licensing agencies and can request that these agencies suspend your drivers, professional and hunting and fishing licenses, if you fail to pay your child support.
What is the difference between civil and criminal contempt?
In civil contempt cases, the court will assess a specific number of days and/or a fine for each missed payment. The sentence must be served even if full payment is made. In criminal contempt cases, an obligor is sentenced to jail until he/she complies with the court order.
Who reports child support?
Credit Bureau Reporting. The Office of the Attorney General is required by law to report the amount of child support owed and the amount paid to the credit reporting agencies.
Can an OAG file a lien on a bank account?
Liens. The OAG can file a lien on properties, bank accounts, retirement plans, life insurance plans, personal injury claims, insurance settlements or awards and other assets if a noncustodial parent fails to pay their child support.
What is the difference between federal and state enforcement?
The first distinction should be obvious: the public interest to be promoted by state enforcement is the interest of the state and its citizens, while federal enforcement purports to serve the broader national interest.
How does state enforcement change the law in the books?
State enforcement may change the federal “law in the books” by generating judicial decisions that clarify the scope of the law. In the 1980s, for example, nineteen states banded together to sue a group of domestic and foreign insurers and reinsurers, alleging collusive activity in violation of federal antitrust law.
How does CPSIA work?
[174] Among other things, the CPSIA banned the manufacture and sale of children’s toys containing “concentrations of more than 0.1 percent” of certain chemicals, known as phthalates, used to soften plastic. [175] Although there are questions at the margins about what constitutes a children’s toy, [176] there is a core set of products to which the ban clearly and unequivocally applies. Even in those circumstances where the federal rule operates unambiguously, enforcement authority allows states to influence policy by adjusting the intensity of enforcement and hence the degree to which manufacturers are deterred from using phthalates. States with a strong commitment to consumer protection can devote resources to identifying and pursuing violations, while those that wish to court business from toy manufacturers can abstain from enforcement. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that the decision by an elected attorney general to take action in the consumer-protection field is influenced by citizen ideology: attorneys general from “liberal” states do more, while those from “conservative” states do less. [177]
What is state enforcement?
State enforcement of federal law complicates conventional accounts of public and private enforcement, exposing gaps in prevailing theories of enforcement. State enforcement is different from federal enforcement in several significant respects.
What is the purpose of Part I and Part II of the 'State Enforcement'?
Part I surveys the literature on public and private enforcement of federal law, then introduces state enforcement as a third option. Part II explores the distinctive features of state enforcement authority, differentiating it both from federal enforcement and from other types of state authority.
How is the law in the books different from the law in action?
The law in the books is different from the law in action. [1] Enforcement determines the distance between the two. Studies show that only a fraction of people with litigable grievances sue. [2] Federal agencies go after an even smaller proportion of offenders. [3] Imagine if that changed overnight and every arguable violation resulted in some form of enforcement action. The law as we know it would mean something very different. The words that appear in statutes and in judicial decisions would be the same, but their practical effect would be transformed by the shift in enforcement practices.
Why is state enforcement diverging from public enforcement?
State enforcement also is likely to diverge from public enforcement at the federal level because of differences in the agents of enforcement. The prototypical federal civil enforcer is a specialist agency headed by political appointees. Similar agencies exist at the state level.
What is the role of the Attorney General?
A core function of state attorneys general is representing the state in court. Offices may defend labor agencies in their enforcement of state laws when employers challenge that enforcement in court, or they may defend agency decisions in unemployment or workers’ compensation cases. For example, in New York during the past decade, there have been numerous unemployment insurance cases where the New York Department of Labor determined that a worker had employee status, and was not an independent contractor as the employer claimed, and the attorney general’s office defended those determinations in appellate courts. 9 This representational function can also come into play in cases with national implications, such as in the Janus v. AFSCME case, in which the Illinois Attorney General’s Office represented the state as a party when defending public-sector unions’ ability to collect fair share fees (OAG Illinois 2018).
How can a state attorney general influence labor and employment policies and regulations?
State attorneys general can also influence labor and employment policies and regulations by participating in litigation before the United States Supreme Court and by submitting comments in relation to federal rulemaking.
What is an opinion letter?
State attorney general opinion letters are typically issued in response to a formal request for legal guidance by a state agency or state officials. Although not generally binding on the courts, a final opinion typically goes through a formalized review process and carries with it the full weight and authority of the office. Opinions often detail the duties and responsibilities of a state agency or official under state and federal law, or elucidate ambiguous or unclear statutory provisions in a state law (Gerstein and Sheikh 2017). For example, the Delaware and New Mexico state attorneys general each issued opinion letters asserting that the local governments in Sussex County, Delaware, and Sandoval County, New Mexico, did not have the statutory authority to enact local “right to work” ordinances, which would have barred unions from collecting fair share fees in the private sector ( Delaware State News 2017; OAG New Mexico 2018).
When two or more businesses determine or have control over a worker’s pay, schedule, job duties, or other
When two or more businesses determine or have control over a worker’s pay, schedule, job duties, or other important terms and conditions of employment, the joint-employer doctrine allows them both to be held accountable as employers and responsible for violations of employment and labor laws (von Wilpert 2018):
What is a pinched by plastic report?
In 2014, the New York Attorney General’s Office issued Pinched by Plastic, a report on the payment of wages by payroll cards (OAG New York 2014d). The report was based on responses to inquiry letters sent by the attorney general’s office to approximately 40 national employers that were using payroll cards. It found that virtually all payroll card programs charged fees for card-related activities, and these fees added up, reducing take-home pay received by the lowest-paid workers in the state (OAG New York 2014d). In 2014, the New York Attorney General’s Office also began issuing annual Labor Day reports, providing a detailed overview of the Labor Bureau’s actions to protect the state’s workers (StateAG.org 2017b). Massachusetts began publishing a similar annual report in 2016 to highlight notable cases, investigations, and trends in labor enforcement in Massachusetts (StateAG.org. 2017a).
How many convictions has the Attorney General of New York had?
New York’s attorney general has obtained over 40 convictions of employers for violating labor laws since 2011. One such case involved a Papa John’s franchisee who created false records and gave workers fictitious names in order to continue to illegally withhold overtime pay after becoming aware that he was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor for wage violations. 8
What is prevailing wage?
Prevailing wage laws seek to ensure that government contractors pay wages that are comparable to the local norms for a given trade when those contractors are working on public construction and certain other contracts. Without prevailing wage requirements, contractors can win bids on government contracts by reducing their workers’ wages rather than competing on the basis of efficiency and management skills, materials costs, or the productivity of their workforce. Even after taking into account cost-of-living differences, median wages in construction are almost 7 percent lower in states where there is no prevailing wage law (Eisenbrey and Kroeger 2017).
What does the Attorney General represent?
The attorney general must represent the public interest in the protection of any gifts, legacies, or devises intended for public or charitable purposes . All writs, summonses, or other processes served upon such officers and legislators must be transmitted by them to the attorney general.
What is the power of the attorney general?
General Powers and Duties (CGS § 3-125) The law gives the attorney general supervision over all legal matters in which the state is an interested party, except those over which prosecuting officers have direction.
When was the Office of Attorney General established?
SUMMARY. The Office of Attorney General was established by the legislature in 1897. The constitution requires a general election for attorney general every four years. This requirement was added to the constitution in 1974. The constitution does not impose any duties or confer any powers on the attorney general.
What powers does the Attorney General have under the Martin Act?
We have previously written about the New York Attorney General’s expansive enforcement powers under New York’s Martin Act. [1] The Martin Act broadly regulates the advertisement, issuance, exchange, purchase or sale of securities, commodities and certain other investments within or from New York. It authorizes the Attorney General to conduct investigations of potential securities or commodities fraud, and to bring civil or criminal actions against alleged violators of the Act. [2] To that end, the Martin Act vests the New York Attorney General with a wide variety of enforcement powers, including the power to:
Who can enforce consumer protection laws?
In addition, the Attorney General may initiate an enforcement action to enforce the consumer protection laws on behalf of the general public, while a private plaintiff lacks the power to bring an action pursuant to GBL Sections 349 and 350 on the grounds of general “consumer injury or harm to the public interest.”.
What is the Martin Act?
The Martin Act, Executive Law Section 63 (12) , and New York GBL Sections 349 and 350, along with certain additional New York statutory provisions, combine to grant the New York Attorney General broad authority to investigate and pursue civil and criminal enforcement actions related to allegedly fraudulent or deceptive and misleading practices involving securities, commodities and other financial and consumer transactions. The absence in these provisions of certain basic procedural and substantive protections, at least as interpreted by the New York Attorney General and some New York courts—and the aggressive manner in which a succession of New York Attorneys General have chosen to apply them—underscores the need for counsel representing an individual or entity served with an Attorney General investigative subpoena to consider challenging the propriety of the Attorney General’s conduct on procedural or substantive grounds. Such a response may include a motion to quash a subpoena in which procedural or substantive constitutional claims, along with other appropriate claims and objections, could be raised. Further scrutiny of the New York Attorney General’s enforcement program on these grounds by New York and federal trial and appellate courts is overdue.
What is an investigative subpoena in New York?
An investigative subpoena served by the New York Attorney General warrants the same care, and practical steps, that a subpoena in the more usual context—a civil lawsuit— requires. Thus, as with any subpoena, counsel should first ensure that the client properly implements a sufficient hold on potentially responsive electronic and hardcopy documents. At the outset, counsel should also, as with any law enforcement subpoena, contact the attorney at the New York Attorney General’s Office who issued the subpoena in an attempt to learn what they can about the investigation underlying the subpoena, and why the client received it. Counsel should also seek as necessary to clarify ambiguous requests, narrow requests that suffer from over-breadth, and seek an appropriate extension of any deadline in the subpoena for production of responsive documents.
What does the Attorney General have to show in a subpoena?
While the courts have interpreted the Attorney General’s power broadly, the Attorney General still must be able to show that the information sought with an investigative subpoena “bear [s] a reasonable relation to the subject matter under investigation and to the public purpose to be achieved.”.
When did Schneiderman file the injunction?
Schneiderman filed the action in November 2015 seeking an injunction to enjoin these sites from operating within the state. The injunction Schneiderman sought was granted, which would have required both websites to cease operations within the state.
What is fraudulent conduct?
Under the terms of Section 63 (12), “fraudulent conduct” includes “any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentations, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provision.”.
Introduction
- The law in the books is different from the law in action. Enforcement determines the distance between the two. Studies show that only a fraction of people with litigable grievances sue. Federal agencies go after an even smaller proportion of offenders. Imagine if that changed overnight and every arguable violation resulted in some form of enforcement action. The law as …
I. Three Categories of Enforcement
- A. Public and Private Enforcement
The academic literature on enforcement authority recognizes two categories of enforcement: public enforcement—defined as “the use of public agents . . . to detect and sanction violators of legal rules”—and private enforcement by nongovernmental individuals and groups. Most of the c… - B. State Enforcement
The conventional account outlined above pits centralized public enforcement against the individualistic efforts of private plaintiffs. But matters are more complicated than that. The image of “public” enforcement reflected in the literature is not just public—it is federal. Public enforcem…
II. State Influence Through Enforcement
- State enforcement of federal law complicates conventional accounts of public and private enforcement, exposing gaps in prevailing theories of enforcement. State enforcement is different from federal enforcement in several significant respects. State enforcement is largely decentralized, and states act on behalf of a set of interests that diverge in important ways from t…
III. Enforcement Authority and The Values of Federalism
- The question remains whether state influence of this sort promotes the values commonly associated with decentralized decisionmaking in a federal system. This Part explores the virtues and vices of enforcement authority from a federalism perspective. Although the conventional arguments for federalism focus on the advantages of regulatory competition, I show that compe…
Conclusion
- This Article has sought to expose and explain the growing trend of state enforcement of federal law. State enforcement cannot be understood as a mere supplement to public enforcement by federal agencies. Enforcement by state attorneys general is different from federal enforcement in several important respects. It is unique, mixing familiar features of public and private enforceme…
Summary
- State attorneys general can be key allies in protecting workers’ rights. While there are variations in the structure, resources, and jurisdiction of state attorney general offices, these offices often have a range of powers that can enable them to play a key role in advancing and defending workplace protections by ensuring that employers comply with the law. This report describes some of the …
General Background on State Attorneys General
- All 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico and other territories, have attorneys general. Although 43 of these attorneys general are elected statewide on a partisan basis, the staffs of these offices are generally career and operate in a professional, nonpolitical manner.2 Within the variety of office structures, most state attorney general offices have the foll…
Roles of State Attorneys General in Protecting Workers’ Rights
- Enforcement of laws to protect workers
Using their authority to enforce state laws, state attorneys general have played an affirmative role in protecting workplace rights. Some state attorneys general are granted explicit civil or criminal enforcement jurisdiction. For example, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Divisio… - Representing state labor agencies in court
A core function of state attorneys general is representing the state in court. Offices may defend labor agencies in their enforcement of state laws when employers challenge that enforcement in court, or they may defend agency decisions in unemployment or workers’ compensation cases. …
Conclusion
- State attorney general offices can be key allies in protecting workers’ rights. While there is variation in their structure, resources, and jurisdiction, state attorneys general have a range of powers that can enable them to play a leading role in ensuring legal compliance by employers and advancing and defending workplace protections.
Acknowledgments
- The authors would like to acknowledge Faisal Sheikh of the American Constitution Society for his work on An Overview of State Attorney General Labor Jurisdiction(Gerstein and Sheikh 2017), which helped inform this report.
About The Authors
- Terri Gersteinis an Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government Fellow and a Fellow at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program. Previously, she worked for over 17 years enforcing labor laws in New York State, including as a Deputy Commissioner of Labor and most recently as Labor Bureau Chief for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Before her government …
Endnotes
- 1. Those states are: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. See Cooper and Kroeger 2017. 2. See the StateAG.orgwebsite. 3. FLA. CONST. art. X, § 24(e) (2004) (“The state attorney general or other official designated by the state legislature may also bring a civil action to enforce this amendment.”); OHIO CONST. art. II, Secti…
References
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Various years. Current Employment Statistics (CES) [public data series]. Data from the CES are available through the CES National Databases and through series reports. Carré, Françoise. 2015. (In)dependent Contractor Misclassification. Economic Policy Institute, June 2015. Colvin, Alexander J.S. 2017. The Growing Use of Mandatory Arbitration: Ac…
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