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Austin, TX (STL.News) Texas Governor Greg Abbott today ordered all Texas flags to be lowered to honor the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “My heart…
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TALLAHASSEE, FL (STL.News) Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Friday won a major court battle against big tobacco, securing millions for the state of Florida. The victory brings an end to years of litigation against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company over millions of dollars owed to the state through Florida’s landmark tobacco settlement agreement. Pursuant to that agreement, RJR and the other major tobacco companies agreed to make annual payments to Florida of several hundred million dollars in perpetuity. The annual payments compensate Florida for the past and future public health care expenses from its citizens’ consumption of the settling defendants’ cigarettes. After RJR sold several of its most iconic cigarette brands, it ceased making mandatory payments to the state for the billions of cigarettes sold under those brands every year.
Today’s decision by Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal to deny RJR’s requests for rehearing and certification effectively ends the legal battle and secures a one-time $92 million payment to the state, as well as an estimated $30 million annually for cigarettes sold under the four brands in question.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This monumental decision comes at an extremely vital time for our state as the coronavirus has taken a toll on Florida’s revenues. I am thrilled with the Fourth DCA’s decision and glad our talented team of attorneys were able to ensure monies due to the state of Florida will be paid in full and the defendants cannot shirk their responsibilities.”
In 2016, RJR sold three of its most iconic cigarette brands, Winston, Kool and Salem, along with a legacy Lorillard Tobacco Company brand, Maverick, to ITG for $7 billion. These four brands accounted for approximately 17 billion cigarettes sold in 2016, eight percent of the domestic tobacco market. RJR refused to include the sales of these cigarette brands when making annual payments to Florida, despite not having been released from its payment obligations. The exact same cigarette brands continue to be sold to Floridians, thus imposing the very public health care expenditures that the settlement payments are intended to compensate.
Today’s Fourth DCA decision vindicates the state’s position, ensures that Florida’s landmark settlement agreement will be enforced, and secures millions for Florida. To read the ruling, click here.
Providence, RI (STL.News) Rhode Island Secretary of State, Nellie Gorbea released the following statement regarding the death of US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
We have lost a champion of voting rights, women’s rights, immigration, health care and the values that make our country great. Thank you Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for always striving to make America live up to its promise. We mourn your loss. We will continue the fight. Rest in peace, RBG.
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Olympia, WA (STL.News) Washington State Governor Jay Inslee released the following statement regarding the passing of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“We have lost one of the greatest American patriots to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was so much more than a judge; she was one of America’s greatest champions for justice, in the truest sense of the word. Trudi and I are devastated.
“Justice Ginsburg leaves an enormous legacy of advancing women’s equality in American jurisprudence and upholding reproductive rights. She fought to preserve the Voting Rights Act and enshrine equality under the law for the LGBTQ community on the Court. In a career as a litigator fighting for equal rights for women, she repeatedly overcame gender-based discrimination in the service of others facing oppression.
“Justice Ginsburg was a public servant who kept America true to its purpose. She never shied away from vigorously dissenting when the Court set back the course of justice. Her career over the decades inspired countless others to join the fight for equality. Generations of Americans, from those who fought at her side for decades to young people inspired by her guts and brilliance, will remember her as a folk hero.
“I have faith that no matter what happens next, Justice Ginsburg’s legacy will have reshaped America forever. We should all raise our voices to make sure her last wishes are met: Her seat should not be filled until 2021.
“I believe the voice of the American people will be heard to make sure we will honor the life, the career and the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“As she once wrote, ‘The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.’”
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Harrisburg, PA (STL.News) Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and First Lady Frances Wolf released the following statement following the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“Frances and I offer our sincerest condolences to the family of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg was a truly remarkable figure in American history, as both a tireless defender of the Constitution, and as a pioneer for gender equality. Justice Ginsburg’s historic opinions from the bench broke down barriers for women and protected the vulnerable.
“Her contributions to our country cannot be overstated. Justice Ginsburg’s life and career have made America a more fair and equitable place. She was a tireless pioneer and made monumental and lasting contributions on issues such as gender equality, a woman’s right to choose, voting rights, immigration, health care and affirmative action. Justice Ginsburg never shied away from standing out by standing up for civil rights and equal protections.
“We join the country in mourning the passing of Justice Ginsburg.”
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SACRAMENTO, CA (STL.News) California Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement Friday evening regarding the passing of Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“Justice Ginsburg devoted her extraordinary life and intellect to making the words of our nation’s founding documents more true. Throughout her historic legal career, her contributions as a jurist to the cause of equality for women and men were unmatched. Justice Ginsburg fought tirelessly for the rights of women at work, at school and in the life of our nation. She proved over and over again that sex-based discrimination harmed not just women, but men and families, and that reckoning with this inequality was required for our nation to live out its promise.
“In moving our nation forward, she inspired millions among us, including so many women and girls, to reach higher, dream bigger and dissent more passionately. Though this loss is incalculable, her legacy will live on in the fairer, more just society that she bravely ushered in and that we must, to honor her, safeguard. Our thoughts and prayers are with her colleagues, her family and all Americans in mourning.”
Original Article Announcing Death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
NEW YORK (STL.News) In response to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement:
“Our hearts are heavy tonight with the passing of one of the most impactful justices to ever serve on the Supreme Court. From her time at the ACLU founding its Women’s Right Project, to her 27 years serving the highest court in the land, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a lifelong warrior in the fight to ensure justice and equality for all Americans.
“Justice Ginsburg’s remarkable legacy, her resolute dignity, her profound sense of justice, and her unwavering desire to do what is right will forever serve as inspiration for the very girls and women she spent her life fighting for. We must honor her legacy by standing firm in the beliefs she held on to until the very end.
“Rest in peace, Justice Ginsburg, and thank you for balancing the scales of justice day by day, and case by case.”
Original Article Announcing Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Death
Washington, DC (STL.News) The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed an Administrative Proceeding, File No. 3-20030, against Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, LLC and Northern Trust Global Fund Services Cayman…
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BUTTE, MT & SIOUX FALLS, SD (STL.News) NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE) Friday announced that it is transferring its stock exchange listing from The New York Stock Exchange after the end of trading on September 30, 2020 to The Nasdaq Global Select Market (Nasdaq). NorthWestern’s shares will begin trading as a Nasdaq-listed security on October 1, 2020 and will continue to trade under the ticker symbol NWE.
“NorthWestern has a century long history of providing safe, reliable and affordable electric and natural gas services across Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska and Yellowstone National Park. Nasdaq is home to many of the world’s most innovative companies and is a natural fit as NorthWestern continues to expand its environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. Although we are one of the smaller U.S. utilities – as measured by market capitalization – we have one of the largest service territories as measured by footprint, covering nearly 108,000 square miles. Although NorthWestern’s energy supply portfolio is already approximately 60% carbon-free, continuous innovation is essential as we steward this critical infrastructure for the benefit of our customers and investors,” said Bob Rowe, President and Chief Executive Officer.
“NorthWestern Energy is committed to providing sustainable energy to meet customer needs, while protecting and enhancing the natural environment,” said Nelson Griggs, President, Nasdaq Stock Exchange. “Their listing on Nasdaq will allow them to efficiently attract investors as they continue to provide safe, reliable and innovative energy solutions that create value for all stakeholders.”
NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, provides electricity and / or natural gas to approximately 734,800 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. We have generated and distributed electricity in South Dakota and distributed natural gas in South Dakota and Nebraska since 1923 and have generated and distributed electricity and distributed natural gas in Montana since 2002.
Washington, DC (STL.News) US Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday evening surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C., due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer. She was 87 years old. Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993. She was the second woman appointed to the Court and served more than 27 years. She is survived by her two children: Jane Carol Ginsburg (George Spera) and James Steven Ginsburg (Patrice Michaels), four grandchildren: Paul Spera (Francesca Toich), Clara Spera (Rory Boyd), Miranda Ginsburg, Abigail Ginsburg, two step-grandchildren: Harjinder Bedi, Satinder Bedi, and one great-grandchild: Lucrezia Spera. Her husband, Martin David Ginsburg, died in 2010.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. said of Justice Ginsburg: “Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
Justice Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933. She married Martin D. Ginsburg in 1954. She received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B. from Columbia Law School. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edmund L. Palmieri, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, from 1959–1961. From 1961–1963, she was a research associate and then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. She was a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963–1972, and Columbia Law School from 1972–1980, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California from 1977–1978. In 1971, she was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973–1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974–1980. She was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. During her more than 40 years as a Judge and a Justice, she was served by 159 law clerks.
While on the Court, the Justice authored My Own Words (2016), a compilation of her speeches and writings.
A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.
