Companies accused of violating state’s spyware and consumer protection laws

Olympia Attorney General Chris Gregoire said today's 5-4 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a Sexually Violent Predator Law modeled after Washington's statute is a major milestone in restoring public confi dence in our system of justice.

In the case of State of Kansas v. Hendricks, the court declared a Kansas law that permits the indefinite civil com mitment of convicted sex offenders constitutional. The ruling validates Washington's law which has detained 51 of the state's most violent sex offenders for supervision, evaluation and treatment.

June 26, 1997 - Olympia--Attorney General Christine Gregoire said today that while the United States Supreme Court said there's no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, it left the door open for Washington citizens to change the law that currently bans such practices.

In two 9-0 rulings, the court upheld a Washington law banning physician assisted suicide and a similar law in the state of New York.

SEATTLE - August 19, 1997 - In an agreement with the State Attorney General’s Office, Leonard E. Vainio, owner of American Eyecare of Bellevue, has been barred from owning and operating any type of optical business in Washington for at least 10 years. The agreement is part of a settlement in an AG consumer protection lawsuit against Vainio.

Seattle - September 18, 1997 - The Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Office of the Attorney General today announced major action has been taken to improve the way auto-related products including credit insurance and service contracts are sold to consumers.

Seattle - July 1, 1999- Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced that Sleep Country USA has agreed to stop using deceptive advertising, including a false claim that its prices are "the lowest ever in Sleep Country’s history."

"Without accurate information, consumers can’t make informed choices," said Gregoire. "Our investigation found Sleep Country ads were misleading and deceptive."

Seattle - May 31, 2002 - Avista Utilities will not increase its rates further and will have to absorb a greater share of its expensive power purchasing agreements, according to a settlement reached today between the utility, state regulators and the Washington State Attorney General.

If approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC), the settlement would essentially freeze Avista’s rates at current levels.

Olympia – August 3, 2001 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire has sued tobacco companies in Arizona and the Philippines for failing to make state-mandated payments that are set aside to cover possible judgments against them in future state lawsuits.

The lawsuits, filed Friday in Thurston County Superior Court, were brought against Earth Tobacco and Single Stick, Inc.

December 23, 1998 - The Attorney General's Office has filed a petition with the U. S. Supreme Court appealing a Ninth Circuit ruling that awarded shellfish harvesting rights to Washington Indian Tribes.

The state petition questions whether the tribes have rights to an allocation of 50 percent of deepwater shellfish, such as crabs, sea urchins, and geoducks, since those shellfish were rarely used by Indians at treaty time. The state's petition also focuses on the issue of whether tribes can harvest shellfish from staked and cultivated beds as the treaty language says they cannot.