News published on Legal Newsline in August 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A South Carolina judge criticized as overly generous to plaintiffs in asbestos cases is making defendants pay whatever she feels, despite what juries and federal courts say, and was just given approval to do so by the state Supreme Court.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a temporary administrative stay against the Biden-Harris Administration, blocking the "parole in place" policy while litigation continues.

Austal USA LLC, a Mobile, Alabama-based shipbuilder constructing vessels for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, pleaded guilty today to charges related to an accounting fraud scheme and efforts to obstruct a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) financial capability audit. The company has agreed to pay $24 million as part of the resolution with the Justice Department. Austal USA is a subsidiary of Austal Limited, an Australian company publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Attorney General Raoul Reaches Settlement with Construction Company for Worker Misclassification, Unpaid Overtime Wages

LANSING – Hope Snyder, 43, of Kincheloe, was sentenced today before Judge Susan Sniegowski in the 51st Circuit Court in Mason County to 35 to 60 years’ incarceration for the murder of Jeffery Grant and the killing of his two dogs by arson. The announcement was made by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Snyder pled no contest to Second Degree Murder, First Degree Arson, and two counts of Animals – Killing/Torturing Second Degree earlier this month.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today clarified that an alert from a trained drug-sniffing dog can contribute to law enforcement’s probable cause for a search, despite the dog’s inability to differentiate between illegal marijuana and legal hemp.

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Andrew Moffitt, 21, of Hartland, Vermont, was arraigned today on one felony count of luring a child. The charge against Mr. Moffitt results from a criminal investigation initially conducted by the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland and later referred to the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC) with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, Vermont State Police, and Hartford Police Department. Mr. Moffitt is alleged to have engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a minor on the...

A Mississippi seafood distributor and two company managers pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to mislabel seafood and commit wire fraud by marketing inexpensive and frozen imported substitutes as more expensive and premium local species.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today the launch of a human trafficking course developed by the Montana Department of Justice to raise awareness and educate Montana students about human trafficking and online exploitation.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an amicus brief in Gulkarov v. Plum, PBC, a case alleging unfair and deceptive practices after Plum failed to disclose that its baby food products contained trace amounts of heavy metals and perchlorate. The brief, submitted to the Ninth Circuit, defends consumers' rights under California’s consumer protection laws and supports the plaintiffs’ motion to bring the issue before the California Supreme Court.

A California man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for his role in a $2.8 million fraud scheme in which Medicare was billed for hospice services that the patients did not need.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody announced today that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will be the keynote speaker for the 2024 Human Trafficking Summit. Sheriff Judd has served as Polk County’s sheriff for nearly 20 years, leading several successful sting operations to dismantle human trafficking rings and rescue victims. In one year alone, Sheriff Judd’s operations resulted in the rescue of 58 human trafficking victims.

A federal grand jury in Greensboro, North Carolina, has returned an indictment charging a former Raleigh man with 27 counts of preparing and filing false tax returns and obstructing the IRS.

Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Cyber Crime Unit arrested a man from Lacombe on Tuesday, August 27, on multiple charges.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. and Mead Johnson & Co., LLC, resolving allegations that the company sold infant and toddler formulas without the required warnings for lead exposure, in violation of Proposition 65 and the Unfair Competition Law. As part of the settlement, Mead Johnson will pay nearly $2 million, which includes payments for violations, reimbursement of costs to the People’s and a private enforcer's expenses, and funding for a supplemental environmental project aimed at reducing other sources of lead...

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that his office, along with 16 other states, has filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris Administration’s “parole in place” (PIP) rule. The rule would allow millions of illegal immigrants to bypass existing laws and obtain permanent residency. Last night, the Court ruled against the program, pausing its implementation while litigation continues.

The Supreme Court of Ohio has ruled that public utility regulators cannot issue orders to grant themselves extensions for deciding applications for rehearing. This decision directly impacts the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), which had a practice of extending its decision-making period beyond the statutory 30 days.

The City of Atlanta’s former chief financial officer (CFO) was sentenced today to 36 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution amounting to $177,197.48 and a fine of $10,000 for abusing his position to steal public money and obstruct the IRS.

The founder and chief executive officer of a California-based company that marketed stem cell-based products linked to multiple hospitalizations pleaded guilty yesterday to a felony violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reasonable cause to believe that the Commonwealth of Kentucky is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro area by unnecessarily segregating adults with serious mental illness in psychiatric hospitals, rather than providing care in integrated community settings.