The General Insider - Volume 121

Defending Our First Amendment

Earlier this week, I filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court, along with 17 other attorneys general, to protect students’ First Amendment free speech rights. Our brief asked the Supreme Court to hear L.M. v. Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts.

This case stems from a middle school student in Massachusetts who wore a t- shirt to school that had the message, “There are only two genders.” School officials told the student he couldn’t wear the shirt. The student then put tape over the word “two,” so the message read, “There are only (censored) genders,” but school officials banned that too.

Free speech is a fundamental freedom, a foundation for all our liberties. The Supreme Court has long upheld that students and teachers do not forfeit their First Amendment rights when they enter their school. Here, a student was censored because his t-shirt did not conform to the school’s preferred pronoun standards. The First Amendment protects his right to his viewpoint and we should defend that right.

Read the brief here.

Curbing the Flood of Robocalls and Robotexts

This week, I joined a bipartisan coalition of 46 attorneys general, calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve their Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) and close what has effectively been an unmonitored loophole that bad actors exploit to access the U.S. telephone network.?

Unsolicited robocalls and robotexts are too often a gateway to scams. In just a single month, October 2024, my office received 361 complaints about robocalls, and we need every tool available to address them. We are asking the FCC to update its rules to protect consumers from these unnecessary, annoying, and sometimes dangerous calls and texts.

Providers must register on the FCC’s database to operate as a voice service provider in the United States.?However, since it went live in 2021, the database has done little to prevent bad actors from obtaining legitimate registrations to send illegal robocalls through the U.S. telephone network.

The attorneys general are calling on the FCC to validate the data providers submit to flag inaccurate or misleading data, penalize providers for submitting false or inadequate information by preventing them from getting authorization to operate, and block non-compliant providers. If adopted, the proposed changes would make it harder for bad actors to gain access to the entire U.S. telephone network and would stop more illegal robocalls from reaching people in the United States.

In the last 12 months, my office has investigated 6,846 telemarketing complaints from consumers, with more than 360 in October 2024 alone.

Read the letter?here.

Driving Toward Solutions to the Opioid Crisis

Last week, I joined a coalition of over thirty state attorneys general announcing the completion of settlement agreements with Kroger, addressing the grocery chain’s role in the opioid crisis. Mississippi will receive up to $10,625,387 out of a $1.37-billion settlement, with payments anticipated to begin early next year.

In Mississippi, the opioid epidemic has killed so many of our loved ones. This settlement with Kroger is an important step in holding everyone involved in the opioid crisis accountable for their role in the harm done to our families and communities. I am proud to be a part of this coalition driving toward solutions to the opioid crisis. Together, we can address the harm already done and prevent more senseless deaths.

Over the past several years, my office has entered into settlements like this one with more than a dozen companies that played a part in creating and amplifying the opioid crisis. These include manufacturers, distributors, pharmacy chains, and even companies that created the marketing plans that fed the epidemic. Together, these lawsuits will bring over $367 million over eighteen years to Mississippi to help us repair the damage from opioids and mitigate future damage with prevention, treatment, and education.

Read the settlement here.