Relationship with Local and County Government: April 6

A core responsibility of a state attorney attorney general is to defend the legality of state statutes as well as the decisions of state office holders and administrative agencies.   But the state attorney general is not the only governmental enforcement officer and the resposibility to defend some state statutes and policies can become problematic because of decisions made by local officials who are also interpreting state statutes. This week we examine the relationship between state attorneys general with different levels of state government.

The first readings examine the increasing polarization of the country, in which there are not only “blue states” and “red states,” but within those states, there are “blue cities” and “red counties.” The later readings focus on the implications of these conflicts on guns and opioids, but the principle is widespread and has become particularly evident in the area of Covid regulations.