Restraining State Attorneys General, Curbing Government Lawsuit Abuse (original) (raw)

have begun to act more and more like plaintiffs’ lawyers who aggressively assert novel claims in litigation. That trend was most dramatically illustrated by the AGs’ lawsuits against the tobacco industry in the 1990s. By filing those suits, which lacked any support in prior law, the AGs invaded areas of regulatory and tax policy that are properly the responsibility of state legislatures. Although the AGs probably did not expect to prevail in court, they filed with the aim of forcing the defendants to settle—which they did. The primary effects of the settlement have been higher prices for cigarettes and the transfer of enormous sums of money, raised through the higher prices, to state governments and the private attorneys they hired. Perversely, the settlement also protected the market shares and profit margins of the major tobacco companies and further confounded the public as to the proper role of government in American life. Unfortunately, the AGs’ “success” in the tobacco cases h...