Annual Meeting Registration Closed
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Arizona Attorney General and CWAG Chair Mark Brnovich, and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas look forward to seeing you at the 2018 CWAG Annual Meeting in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico this July 22 to 25, 2018. The
meeting website
includes travel and hotel information to facilitate air and hotel arrangements, speaker details, CLE information and much more.
Registration for the CWAG Annual Meeting in New Mexico is now CLOSED
as the meeting has reached maximum capacity. There will be
no
on-site registration.
The CWAG host hotel Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa is
sold out
. If you have been unable to secure a room, the nearest hotel is the
Santa Ana Star Casino
hotel.
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Hot Topics On The Agenda At The 2018 CWAG Annual Meeting
Check out the latest articles on topics that will be addressed during the Annual Meeting in New Mexico! (
Note: Subscription may be required for access
.)
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Senate Confirms Mark J. Bennett to Seat on Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
July 10, 2018
The United States Senate today confirmed President Trump’s nomination of Honolulu attorney Mark J. Bennett to serve as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Confirmation came by a vote of 72-27.
Judge Bennett, who will maintain chambers in Honolulu, was nominated to the court on February 15, 2018. After appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 11, 2018, his nomination was reported to the Senate floor on May 10, 2018. He will fill a judgeship vacant since December 31, 2016, when Judge Richard R. Clifton of Honolulu assumed senior status.
Judge Bennett served as attorney general of Hawaii from 2003 to 2010.
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Attorney General Becerra Releases 2017 California Criminal Justice Data Reports
July 9, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released five annual criminal justice reports that provide law enforcement agencies and the public with statewide data on criminal justice statistics. The reports, as well as raw data supporting each report, can be accessed via the Attorney General’s
OpenJustice website
. The information contained in the 2017 publications reflects the statistical data submitted by California law enforcement agencies and other criminal justice entities.
- Crime in California
- Hate Crime in California
- Homicide in California
- Juvenile Justice in California
- URSUS: Use of Force Incident Reporting
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AG Ferguson Announces Fast-Food Chains Will End Restrictions on Low-Wage Workers Nationwide
July 12, 2018
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that in order to avoid a lawsuit from his office, seven large, corporate fast-food chains will immediately end a nationwide practice that restricts worker mobility and decreases competition for labor by preventing workers from moving among the chains’ franchise locations. The companies will no longer enforce provisions included in franchise agreements that stop workers from moving to potentially better positions and wages, and will remove the language from current and future contracts.
Economists believe that practices that decrease competition, like the “no-poach” language that Ferguson urged these companies to remove, lead to wage stagnation.
The seven fast-food chains agreed to stop this practice not only at their over 500 Washington locations, but nationally. Tens of thousands of low-wage employees will be affected across the United States at more than 25,000 locations.
As a result of the assurances of discontinuance, filed in King County Superior Court, the franchisors are now legally obligated to stop including no-poach language in their new agreements and must remove any no-poach provisions in existing franchise agreements on a national scale.
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Attorney General Becerra Joins Multistate Effort to Examine Franchise No-Poach Policies that Harm Low-Wage Workers
These policies prevent current employees from seeking better pay and benefits through a new job at a different franchise
July 10, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined a multistate effort led by the State of Massachusetts to request and review information about employee “no-poach” policies adopted and enforced by franchise corporations in their agreements with their franchisees. Under these agreements, one franchise operator contractually agrees not to hire or solicit the employees of another franchise operator. As a result, low-wage workers are unable to seek better pay and benefits by going to work for a competing franchise. In a letter sent to eight fast food and casual dining establishments, the states request additional information about the use of these agreements. According to the letter, 58 percent of major franchise operators have no-poach provisions in their franchise agreements. The number is even higher, at 80 percent, for fast food franchisors. Worker advocates argue these provisions have led to persistently low wage growth and are anticompetitive in nature.
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Attorney General Becerra Issues Consumer Alert on Price Gouging Following State of Emergency in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Siskiyou Counties
July 7, 2018
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued a consumer alert following the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Siskiyou Counties due to widespread wildfires. Attorney General Becerra reminds all Californians that price gouging during a state of emergency is illegal under Penal Code Section 396.
“Our State’s price gouging law protects people impacted by an emergency from illegal price gouging on housing, gas, food, and other essential supplies. I encourage anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, to immediately file a complaint through my Office’s website or call (800) 952-5225, or to contact their local police department or sheriff’s office,” said Attorney General Becerra.
California law generally prohibits charging a price that exceeds, by more than 10 percent, the price of an item before a state or local declaration of emergency. This law applies to those who sell food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials and gasoline. The law also applies to repair or reconstruction services, emergency cleanup services, transportation, freight and storage services, hotel accommodations and rental housing. Exceptions to this prohibition exist if, for example, the price of labor, goods, or materials has increased for the business.
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July is Military Consumer Protection Month
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Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Scammers’ unrelenting tactics will even take advantage of America’s bravest heroes – our military service members. July is Military Consumer Month and aims to educate military families about potential deceptive practices that specifically target these families and their unique circumstances. In 2017, military consumers around the country reported 50,411 complaints, with nearly 30,000 of those complaints categorized as imposter scams.
“Fraudsters are always trying to steal, cheat and abuse the system,” said Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “But the scammers who specifically target the brave men and women who have risked their lives to protect our nation are particularly despicable. Having such a large military population living in Arkansas, I am working with statewide partners to better support service members and protect them from the con artists and scammers.”
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Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
National Military Consumer Protection Month serves as an opportunity to remind Michigan’s service members of consumer protection programs and helpful tips available specifically to address the needs of both active duty military and veterans.
“The men and women who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting our country deserve better than to be scammed by individuals that see nothing more than an opportunity to make money,” said Schuette. “My consumer protection division and charitable trust section are dedicated to protecting all Michigan residents, but especially those individuals who serve our country.”
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Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
"Thank you and your family members for the sacrifices you have made to protect our freedoms and keep our nation safe. It is an honor to serve the 73,000 active members of the Armed Forces and more than 1.5 million veterans who call the State of Florida their home.
"My Consumer Protection Division works every day to protect Florida consumers from businesses and individuals that engage in unfair methods of competition or deceptive and unfair practices. Unfortunately, we often see these methods used to specifically target members of our active duty and veteran communities."
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AG Balderas Warns New Mexicans of Online Phishing Scam Targeting Their Bank Accounts
July 10, 2018
Attorney General Hector Balderas cautioned New Mexico consumers not to submit their banking information over the internet—unless consumers have initiated contact with the bank. The advisory came after the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General received several reports of scammers receiving banking account numbers through ‘phishing’ for information on a banking website
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Schuette Releases New Consumer Alert to Warn Residents About New Text Messaging Scams called “Smishing”
Smishing, a blending of the words SMS and phishing, is when scammers send text messages pretending to be from trusted sources
July 10, 2018
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced his Consumer Protection team has released a new consumer alert on “Smishing.” Smishing is when a scammer sends text messages to consumers appearing to be from a trusted source.
Smishing scams are like phishing scams for emails except they arrive as text messages. The scammer’s goal is for consumers to respond to the texts with personal information or to click on links that install malware.
With more than 20 billion text messages sent every day in the United States, a growing number of those are from thieves trying to scam consumers. Smartphone users are three times more likely to fall for fake text messages than computer users, therefore text message scams are on the rise.
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Michigan OK2SAY Receives 365 Tips in the Month of June
July 3, 2018
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette released the June 2018 tip numbers for his OK2SAY student safety initiative. During the month of June, OK2SAY received 365 tips, bringing the total number of tips to 14,552 since the program began in 2014.
The highest number of tips submitted by Michigan students in June were in the following categories:
- Suicide Threat- 122
- Bullying- 34
- Drugs- 34
- Self Harm- 28
“OK2SAY is a program that works,” said Schuette. “OK2SAY saves lives, and helps students make their schools a safer place.” The OK2SAY tip line is available for tips 24/7, 365 days a year, even in the summer months when school is not in session.
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Welcome to the Sponsor Spotlight, where each week CWAG will celebrate one of our private sector partners.
Oracle helps customers develop strategic roadmaps and advance their journey to the cloud from any point: new cloud deployments, legacy environments, and hybrid implementations. Oracle’s complete, integrated approach makes it easy for companies to get started in the cloud and even easier to expand as business grows.
Oracle’s application suites, platforms, and infrastructure leverage both the latest technologies and emerging ones—including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT)— in ways that create business differentiation and advantage for customers. Today, 430,000 customers in 175 countries use Oracle technologies to seize business opportunities and solve real, tangible challenges. Oracle supports customers on every step of the digital journey, with consulting, financing, support, and training services.
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FORENSICS RESEARCH LIBRARY
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CWAG and Cellebrite Introduce Launch Digital Forensics Resource Library
The
Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG)
Cyber Security Working Group and working group partner
Cellebrite
, a
leading provider of digital intelligence solutions, announced the launch of a comprehensive repository of digital procedural documents and educational assets designed to enhance the investigative process for law enforcement and prosecutors.
CWAG members can obtain access to this ever-expanding library of assets by contacting CWAG Alliance Partnership Deputy Director Lauren Niehaus at
LNiehaus@cwagweb.org.
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Updated
American Indian Law Deskbook
Is Now Available
*Access may require subscription
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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