FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
February 13, 2013
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Page 1 of 1
AG STRANGE JOINS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING
CONSTITUTIONALITY OF FEDERAL DODD-FRANK ACT
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange today announced that Alabama
is joining a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Dodd-Frank, a sweeping financial
overhaul designed to “fix” the financial crisis.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2012 by a
group of private plaintiffs, and it was later joined by the States of Oklahoma, South Carolina,
and Michigan. In addition to the State of Alabama, the lawsuit is being joined today by
Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Nebraska, Montana, Texas and West Virginia. The state attorneys
general are specifically challenging Title II of Dodd-Frank, which gives power to the Treasury
Secretary to liquidate banks with only 24 hours’ notice and no notice to creditors or
shareholders.
Attorney General Strange said that he decided to join the lawsuit to protect the assets of
Alabama’s pension funds and other state interests. “Dodd-Frank violates important rights that
we all have in the marketplace and will make it harder to protect the State’s investments when
companies go bankrupt,” Strange said. “Dodd-Frank is Obamacare for the financial sector. It
replaces the rule of law with the rule of politics and gives authority to unaccountable federal
regulators to make decisions that will affect Alabama families and businesses,” Strange said.
In 2009, when the federal government replaced “Old Chrysler” with “New Chrysler,”
one set of Chrysler’s creditors, Indiana’s state pension funds, were forced to take $6 million in
losses so that other creditors could be treated more favorably. Indiana challenged the
reorganization in court, but the federal government closed “Old Chrysler” before the Supreme
Court could hear the case. “Because of Dodd-Frank, each state now faces the same threat,”
Strange explained, “What happened in Indiana could happen here, and Alabama taxpayers
would bear the burden to make up for lost assets that were intended to cover retired state
employees or to fund government services.”
The lawsuit’s original plaintiffs are the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the 60 Plus
Association and a Texas community bank. The plaintiffs argue that Dodd-Frank violates the
United States Constitution because it gives too much power to unelected executive officials,
does not offer due process to regulated entities, and creates bankruptcy rules that are not
uniform. More information about the case is available at http://cei.org/doddfrank.
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501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
