Now Attorney General Gansler colors outside the lines
First it was Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot who decided to apply a loose interpretation to his duties as defined by the Maryland Constitution. The comptroller, says the Constitution:
shall have the general superintendence of the fiscal affairs of the State; he shall digest and prepare plans for the improvement and management of the revenue, and for the support of the public credit; prepare and report estimates of the revenue and expenditures of the State; superintend and enforce the prompt collection of all taxes and revenues; adjust and settle, on terms prescribed by law, with delinquent collectors and receivers of taxes and State revenue; preserve all public accounts; and decide on the forms of keeping and stating accounts.
Franchot decided that he was also the assistant secretary for biotechnology at the Department of Business and Economic Development.
Now Doug Gansler has decided that he is not only attorney general but also secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. A press pitch from Gansler's office:
As part of the Attorney General’s audit of the Chesapeake Bay and it’s [sic] tributaries, Attorney General Gansler will visit Chestertown, Maryland on Wednesday, April 16th to hear firsthand from local environmental leaders, residents and elected officials the challenges facing the Chester River. As part of his visit, Attorney General Gansler will take a boat trip down the Chester River at 11:30 am. The boat will depart from the Chestertown Marina at 211 S. High Street in downtown Chestertown.In addition to the boat trip, Attorney General Gansler will host a Town Hall meeting at Washington College at 5:00 p.m. in Hodson Hall, 300 Washington Avenue. The public is invited to attend the meeting and share with the Attorney General their concerns about the health of the Chester River.
MEDIA NOTE: Members of the media who would like to accompany the Attorney General on the boat trip must RSVP to the Press Office at 410-576-6357 as soon as possible because space is limited.
Space is limited! From the Constitution:
The Attorney General shall:(1) Prosecute and defend on the part of the State all cases pending in the Appellate Courts of the State, in the Supreme Court of the United States or the inferior Federal Courts, by or against the State, or in which the State may be interested, except those criminal appeals otherwise prescribed by the General Assembly.
(2) Investigate, commence, and prosecute or defend any civil or criminal suit or action or category of such suits or actions in any of the Federal Courts or in any Court of this State, or before administrative agencies and quasi legislative bodies, on the part of the State or in which the State may be interested, which the General Assembly by law or joint resolution, or the Governor, shall have directed or shall direct to be investigated, commenced and prosecuted or defended.
Comments
It is well within an attorney general's role to collect information, opinion and concerns regarding any matter.
This is all as part of carrying out the duty to "Investigate, commence, and prosecute or defend any civil... suit or action or category of such suits or actions."
Most similiar is when an attorney general would investigate or hold hearings on consumer protection matters of the student lending crisis.
Ever hear of an independent investigation?
Posted by: ER | April 14, 2008 1:16 PM
ER,
You are correct. The Attorney General does do things that seem on their face to be out of his purview, but they fall under his investigatory and enforcement power. Hancock is clearly just trying to stir the pot here.
Posted by: Reilly | April 14, 2008 1:29 PM
Baloney. This is further evidence of the Spitzerization of state AG offices, by which ambitious pols try to make a name for themselves by attacking the unpopular (tobacco companies) and supporting the popular (as in this case).
I don't believe the General Assembly or Governor have directed the AG to commence an investigation of the Bay, prosecute the Bay, or defend the Bay.
Posted by: CMD | April 15, 2008 6:21 AM
CMD, are you suggesting that the AG is powerless to act in his constitutionally defined duties without the direction of the Governor or General Assembly? Perhaps you should bone up on your Maryland constitutional law. The AG is empowered by the constitution to "Investigate, commence, and prosecute or defend any civil... suit or action or category of such suits or actions." Wouldn't an action against a person or a company who is breaking a law punishable only by a civil action fall into this rubric?
What is really humorous is that you complain that the AG is doing too much, but I would bet all the money in my pockets right now that you would also complain if he did too little. That, of course, would require you do have a bare minimum of an understanding for what his Office actually does on a daily basis.
Posted by: Reilly | April 16, 2008 5:48 PM
Nice ellipses.
And no, I would not complain in the slightest if the AG did too little--State AGs were essentially anonymous not all that long ago, and we were better off for it.
And, yes, I do have a bare minimum of an understanding of what they actually do on a daily basis.
Posted by: CMD | April 16, 2008 9:32 PM