Fournier Addresses Lawyers' Forum

(Berlin, May 13, 2009) Green Party Candidate for Attorney General Stephen Fournier told an audience of lawyers that he would continue Connecticut's ongoing legal struggle against corrupt business practices. He suggested that his political independence might allow him to extend the reach of the attorney general, into mortgage lending, for example, and residential title insurance. .

Fournier was one of three candidates to show up for the forum, sponsored by the Anti-Trust and Consumer Law Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association. Republican Martha Dean ihad harsh criticism for Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is running for U. S. Senate. She argued that Blumenthal's litigiousness makes Connecticut toxic to business. Democrat George Jepsen had nothing but praise for his fellow Democrat.

Fournier expressed approval for the "big-money settlements" made by the attorney general's anti-trust and consumer protection lawyers, several of whom were in attendance. Dean promised that half of them will be gone if she wins.

Fournier warned that the oil now pouring into the Gulf of Mexico will be heading our way and predicted that the spill would be "the biggest liability event ever." He said Connecticut's attorney general should be on this now, and he anticipates that it will become a focus of activity soon.

He said that the deployment of the Connecticut National Guard by the president is in violation of federal law and promised to advise the governor to order the mlitia home, even in defiance of the federal executive. He disparaged "rogue government" in Washington and offered to rally the states to apply legal restraints.