Guest Editorial by Kristi Valls
Troy King, Alabama’s Attorney General is wrong. Plain wrong. Once again, he has chosen to play politics and issue press releases instead of working with those of us who are in the trenches of Alabama's courtrooms every day.
The latest evidence of this is his unwarranted intervention into civil lawsuits filed by several of Alabama’s district attorneys. Those district attorneys have a sworn duty to protect the citizens of this state through both civil and criminal prosecutions. No one knows the best interests of their respective jurisdictions like the district attorney does. As they are duty-bound to do under the law, a number of district attorneys chose to file civil lawsuits for the violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the regulations of the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy. These suits are against several large corporations who are, in the opinion of those district attorneys, engaging in illegal or deceptive trade practices that victimize our citizens.
Last week, district attorneys who filed these civil cases were notified by Mr. King by way of a press release (made simultaneously with the filing of his motions to dismiss the cases) that he was going to exercise his perceived authority to step in and dismiss these cases. The affected district attorneys were caught completely by surprise. Mr. King never made a simple phone call or sent a single letter to try and discuss this issue. We find this a very unfortunate, yet familiar practice.
Alabama’s district attorneys and the Alabama District Attorneys Association’s obligation to protect our citizens is unwavering and never subject to political whim. What we do is based on the simple premise of right versus wrong, nothing else. As such, we unequivocally support those district attorneys who have filed these suits and are dismayed and sorely disappointed by Mr. King's actions.
