Wilmington, DE – Today Attorney General Joseph R. Biden, III announced that he has appointed Teresa Mason as Chief of Staff of the Delaware Department of Justice, effective January, 2008. In that position Ms. Mason will direct the Department’s Administrative Division, which includes all Human Resources, Operations, Fiscal, Information Technology, Public Information, Legislative Affairs, and External Relations functions.

“I am delighted to welcome Teresa Mason to my leadership team,” said Attorney General Biden. “She brings an impressive record of success prosecuting crime and solving complex challenges. Teresa exhibits the skill, intellect, and vision to be a leader in an organization with the size and diverse programs of the Delaware Department of Justice. I will draw heavily on Teresa’s experiences and ideas as the Department builds on our success in the crime fight and develops new collaborations to protect Delaware’s communities and families.”

Ms. Mason comes to the Delaware Department of Justice after a distinguished career in the public and private sectors. From 1982-2000 Ms. Mason worked for the State and City of New York, where she prosecuted criminals, managed large staffs and budgets, developed innovative programs, and led multiagency collaborations. From 1982-1988 she served as a trial attorney, supervising trial attorney, and Deputy Bureau Chief in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. From 1988-1995 she worked in the State’s Department of Taxation and Finance, first as Director of the Revenue Crimes Bureau, then as Assistant Deputy Commissioner, and later as Special Counsel for Adjudications for the New York City Department of Finance before then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani named her Sheriff for the City of New York in 1996. As the City’s Chief Civil Law Enforcement Officer, Ms. Mason directed a 300-person staff and $14 million budget. During her tenure, she led efforts to collaborate across agencies, increased child support collection, initiated a vehicle identification program, and re-invented the public complaint response system.

In 2000, Ms. Mason joined MBNA America Bank and served until 2005 in several senior management positions, including Executive Vice President of the institution’s Personnel, Compliance, and Government Affairs Divisions. Her last role was Vice President of Homeland Security for Systems Applications and Technologies, Inc., a professional services firm specializing in engineering technical services, investigative services, security services, and facilities management. “I look forward to returning to public service,” Ms. Mason stated, “and it is my privilege to join Attorney General Biden’s team of talented professionals who continue to strive to improve the safety and quality of life for all Delawareans.”

Ms. Mason received her law degree from Howard University School of Law (JD 1982) and her undergraduate degree from St. John’s University (BS 1979). She currently serves as a Trustee of St. John’s University. She is a past member of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Delaware Humanities Forum, and Special Olympics Delaware Board and she previously served as President of the Black Bar Association of Bronx County. Ms. Mason is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from St. John’s University. Ms. Mason follows Jennifer D. Oliva as Chief of Staff. Ms. Oliva, a Delaware native, has served since January, 2007 as the Department’s first Chief of Staff. Ms. Oliva graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point as a Truman Scholar. She was awarded the highly prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Oxford University, where she received her MBA. Ms. Oliva then served as a Military Police officer before retiring from the Army as a Captain. In 2004, Ms. Oliva received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Ms. Oliva will remain at the Delaware Department of Justice as Deputy State Solicitor in the Civil Division. In that position she will supervise and manage all civil litigation, including all civil appeals; direct complex multi-state litigation and civil enforcement actions; manage the day-to-day administration of the Civil Division, including outside counsel relationships; administer statewide Freedom of Information Act advice and enforcement; and assist the State Solicitor in providing advice to state agencies.
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Wilmington, DE – Attorney General Joseph R. Biden, III today announced the settlement of a civil law enforcement action against the makers of the popular oral contraceptive product Ovcon. The lawsuit, joined by thirty-three other states and the District of Columbia, charged Warner Chilcott and Barr Pharmaceuticals (“Barr”) with antitrust violations that have prevented generic versions of Ovcon from reaching the marketplace.

As part of the settlement, Warner Chilcott will pay $5.5 million to Delaware and the other litigating states.

“The presence of generic drugs in the marketplace creates competition and helps control the cost of prescription drugs,” Attorney General Biden said. “The Delaware Department of Justice will actively use its resources to protect access to affordable prescription drugs for Delaware’s consumers.”

The civil complaint, filed in 2005 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Warner Chilcott paid Barr $20 million to keep Barr from marketing a generic version of Ovcon. According to the lawsuit, Ovcon has been sold in the United States since 1976 as an oral contraceptive, and Warner Chilcott became the exclusive U.S. distributor of Ovcon in early 2000.

During 2003, Barr publicly announced that it planned to introduce a generic version of Ovcon to the market by the end of that year. The lawsuit alleges that Warner Chilcott paid Barr $1 million in September 2003 for an option agreement designed to prevent Barr’s generic product from coming to market. Under the terms of the alleged agreement, after Barr received FDA approval to market generic Ovcon., Warner Chilcott had 90 days to pay Barr an additional $19 million, after which Barr would refuse to bring the cheaper generic version to the market.

Because this lawsuit was filed as a law enforcement action, the litigating states sought civil penalties and equitable relief. The relief obtained through this settlement will help ensure that Warner Chilcott will not engage in similar conduct in the future. The lawsuit against Barr will continue moving forward in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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Attorney Danberg announced today that The Weinstein Company is the first motion picture company to insert anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs) in DVDs in which smoking is depicted. The Weinstein Company was responding to a September 2006 letter to Hollywood’s 13 major motion picture companies, which was signed by the Attorneys General from 41 states. Beginning with the December release of “Clerks II,” the Weinstein Company’s upcoming DVDs, which are distributed by TWC’s exclusive home entertainment distributor, Genius Products, will include an anti -smoking ad created by the American Legacy Foundation.

Danberg’s September request offered free and unlimited use of teen-targeted anti-smoking ads developed for the truth campaing of the American Legacy Foundation, created pursuant to the 1998 settlement of the states’ tobacoo litigation against the major tobacoo companies. As of this date, no other studios have responded to this PSA offer.

“We are very proud to be the first to sign onto this important initiative.” said Bob and Harvey Weinstein. “The Attorney General made a very sensible request, and we think the concept has a lot of merit.” The Weinsteins added, “Hopefully our Company’s decision to move forward will make other studios reconsider the idea.”

Tobacoo remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States and 80 percent of adult smokers begin before age 18. Research has shown that teens are strongly influenced by seeing actors they idolize smoke on screen, regardless of the characters they play. To counteract this, the Attorneys General have repeatedly asked the Motion Picture Association of America, and the major studios to show youth smoking prevention public service messages in theaters and on DVDs before films that contain smoking. The Attorneys General also asked the National Association of Theatre Owners and its members to run such messages in their theaters.

Danberg said he applauds The Weinstein Company for taking this step in deterring young movie viewers from smoking.

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 (Wilmington, DE) Delaware Attorney General Carl Danberg, today announced that R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company (AReynolds@) and the Attorneys General of 39 states have entered into a settlement that ends the sale of candy, fruit and alcohol flavored cigarettes manufactured and sold by Reynolds.
Under the settlement, Reynolds agreed to a ban in the United States of its flavored Camel, Kool and
Salem cigarettes. The agreement also imposes significant marketing restrictions that make it virtually impossible for Reynolds to market a flavored cigarette to youth in the future. The following restrictions apply to any cigarettes manufactured by Reynolds in the future that have a characterizing flavor other than tobacco or menthol:
! The name of the cigarette may not be that of a candy, a fruit or an alcoholic beverage, and may not
include any of a number of specified terms that evoke imagery of candy, fruit or alcoholic beverages.
! Reynolds may not use print advertising, point of sale materials, exterior packaging or non-age-verified direct mail or internet advertising that contain (i) names of a candy, a fruit or an alcoholic beverage, (ii) any of a number of specified terms that evoke imagery of candy, fruit or alcoholic beverages, or (iii)
imagery of candy, fruit or alcoholic beverages.
! Reynolds may not distribute scented promotional materials, such as ALift and Sniffs@ or AScratch and Sniffs.@ The Attorneys General had asserted that Reynolds was violating the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement’s prohibition on youth targeting through its advertising, marketing and promotion of its flavored cigarettes.
Among the evidence that led the Attorneys General to conclude that Reynolds was targeting youth was: use of candy, fruit and alcohol flavors with high youth appeal; use of advertising and packaging with graphics, typography, colors, styles and themes that were enticing to youth; and use of AScratch and Sniff@ and ALift and Sniff@ promotional cards scented with sweet, candy aromas, but with none of the scent of tobacco.
The brand styles of flavored cigarettes sold by Reynolds that are specifically banned by the Agreement
are: Camel Exotic Blends: Mandarin Mint, Dark Mint, Crema, Izmir Stinger, Twist, Cinnzabar, Mandalay Lime, Aegean Spice, Bayou Blast, Beach Breezer, Margarita Mixer, Midnight Madness, Back Alley Blend, Kauai Kolada, Twista Lime, Winter MochaMint, Warm Winter Toffee, Blackjack Gin, Screwdriver Slots and SnakeEyes Scotch; Salem Silver: Dark Currents, Fire & Ice, Deep Freeze and Cool Myst; and Kool Smooth Fusions: Mintrigue, Mocha Taboo, Midnight Berry and Caribbean Chill.
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(Wilmington): Attorney General Carl C. Danberg introduced legislation today in the General Assembly which will seek to limit political activity while recognizing the legitimate free speech rights of State Department of Justice employees. This Act mirrors the restrictions placed upon federal employees by the Hatch Act to the extent practicable to ensure consistency with Delaware law. The political activities of State Department of Justice employees are of significant statewide concern. Partisan political activity of Department employees must be limited in order to preserve public confidence in the administration of justice and the enforcement of laws, and to maintain the efficiency and integrity of the Department and its employment system.

This Act will ensure that Department employees do not use their official authority or influence to improperly interfere with the political process of this State. It also will ensure that personal political activity of Department employees does not hinder the administration of justice or the enforcement of laws in the State of Delaware.

Representative Wayne Smith said, “It is imperative that we preserve the integrity of the election process and the public’s perception that election disputes are resolved by the Department of Justice in an impartial manner.”

In a statement earlier today, Senator Thurman Adams said “I applaud the Attorney General for his efforts to ensure the public’s confidence that our laws will be administered free from political interference.”

House Speaker Terry Spence said, “This legislation transcends partisan politics and allows the Attorney General’s Office to be viewed by the public as absolutely impartial, when handling election disputes.”

Attorney General Danberg said, “My office is frequently called upon to resolve election law disputes. For that reason, it is imperative that the office be beyond reproach to fulfill those duties. I am gratified for the bipartisan support from both the House and Senate chambers and by the unanimous and strong support of the Chief Deputy and the Divisions Heads in my office, for this proposal.”

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