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Last week, our team secured three major victories in our ongoing defense of consumers and a competitive economy.
🎟️ A jury found Live Nation/Ticketmaster liable for being an illegal monopolist that overcharged consumers and harmed the music industry. This is a resounding victory for artists, fans, and music venues.
📺 A court preliminarily blocked the megamerger of broadcast titans Tegna and Nexstar while our case proceeds. This merger is illegal, plain and simple, and would hamper competition, raise prices for consumers, limit news and sports coverage, and lead to fewer broadcast jobs.
📦 A judge denied Amazon’s attempt to avoid facing us in court in our ongoing case against the company over price fixing that creates higher prices for consumers. We look forward to holding Amazon fully accountable in court.
Our message this week is clear: California DOJ won’t allow consumers to be cheated. We won’t allow behemoth corporations to break the law, create monopolies, or stifle competition. Consumers and small businesses deserve justice—and this week, we delivered.
In solidarity,
Rob
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Securing Historic Verdict in Live Nation/Ticketmaster Trial
 The verdict is in! This week, a jury found Live Nation/Ticketmaster liable for anticompetitive conduct, including overcharging consumers for tickets sold from May 2020 through 2024. In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans. I am incredibly proud of this outcome — and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation’s illegal conduct. Now, the case goes back to the judge to determine the number of tickets Live Nation sold and the total damages amount, final penalties, and consumer restitution, and to determine any injunctive relief the company must comply with moving forward.
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Securing Prime Victories Against Amazon’s Price Fixing and Nexstar/Tegna Merger
 This week, we announced a victory in California’s ongoing case against Amazon for price fixing. Our 2022 lawsuit alleges that Amazon employs anticompetitive pricing practices that stifle price competition among online retailers, causing higher prices for consumers on and off Amazon. In a new ruling, the San Francisco Superior Court denied a key aspect of Amazon’s defense, marking a significant defeat in Amazon’s continuing efforts to convince the Court that California’s antitrust laws do not apply to Amazon’s anticompetitive conduct.
In yet another win this week, my office and attorneys general nationwide secured a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit opposing the illegal and U.S. DOJ-approved merger of Nexstar/Tegna — an order that demands the broadcasting titans stop merging while our case proceeds. The federal government may have thrown in the towel, but we’ll keep fighting for consumers, for workers, for affordability, and for our local news.
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Announcing $773 Million Agreement with Albertsons for its Role in Opioid Epidemic
 Following negotiations, California and other states announced an agreement in principle on monetary terms that would require grocery chain Albertsons to pay up to $773 million to address its role in the opioid epidemic. Albertsons operates in California through a number of subsidiaries, including Safeway and Vons. This agreement is part of our ongoing fight to bring help and healing to communities harmed by the opioid crisis. California DOJ has worked closely with our coalition partners to hold corporate actors accountable for fueling this public health crisis. While the parties have reached agreement on the total potential payment that Albertsons would make to eligible state and local governments, important negotiations — including with respect to injunctive relief — remain. We will continue to address the epidemic from all angles and support individuals and families affected by it.
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Improving Interactions Between People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Law Enforcement
 In most California jurisdictions, law enforcement commonly responds when people are experiencing a mental health crisis, or when caregivers or others are unable to manage behaviors related to intellectual or developmental disability. SB 882 charged the Advisory Council on Improving Interactions between People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Law Enforcement, with the support of California DOJ staff, with evaluating and identifying gaps in existing training for peace officers specific to their frequent interactions with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health conditions. This week, the Council released its report, which proposes a series of recommendations to the California Legislature that the Council believes can be implemented to drive a more effective system of care, enhance public safety, and reduce costly emergency interventions.
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Making Your Life Affordable
 From groceries to gas, costs seem to be rising and rising ... and rising. California DOJ has your back and is committed to protecting California families grappling with the high cost of living. In this segment, find some of the ways California DOJ is protecting Californians — and their wallets.
Hold Up — What is Antitrust? Sometimes, people hear the term antitrust and their eyes roll over. They shouldn’t, antitrust is very much about affordability and ensuring economic justice! Antitrust refers to laws and regulations designed to protect fair competition in the marketplace by preventing unlawful mergers, price-fixing, and other anticompetitive practices. Antitrust laws encourage competition by limiting the market power of firms, ensuring that mergers and acquisitions don’t overly concentrate market power, and by preventing multiple firms from conspiring to limit competition through practices like price fixing. When companies get too big or too powerful, they can use that power to unlawfully do things like raise prices for consumers, lower wages for workers, and restrict opportunities for law-abiding businesses.
What We Are Doing: A lot! California DOJ has made robust antitrust enforcement a top priority: expanding the size of our Antitrust Law Section and leading the charge within the state and across the country. And as you read in the intro, California is working hard, securing wins, and having what some might call a Hot Antitrust Spring!
What this Means to You: Antitrust laws and their enforcement help protect consumers by ensuring businesses compete fairly, which often results in lower prices, higher quality goods, and more innovative products. Whether in the grocery, airline, tech, gasoline, or rental housing industry, we are committed to protecting Californians and standing up for consumers nationwide. Protecting a competitive market is good for Californians and the vibrant economy we depend on.
As part of California DOJ’s commitment to enforce antitrust laws, we have launched an Antitrust Complaint Form! Learn more and report anticompetitive conduct that potentially violates antitrust laws below.
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Keeping You Safe
 Working alongside our law enforcement partners, this week my office announced the arrest of a suspect in Stockton and the seizure of two illegally possessed firearms and ammunition. The investigation began after the individual was identified as prohibited through the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS). This case is one of many in which APPS investigations uncover far more than a single firearm. In Tulare County, for example, an APPS lead resulted in the arrest of four suspects and the seizure of a substantial cache of illegal firearms, magazines, drugs, ammunition, and cash. As the investigation progressed, agents uncovered additional criminal activity, ultimately dismantling a group involved in significant drug trafficking and manufacturing operations. In a separate case, a Richmond resident was arrested in possession of a large cache of illegal firearms, including assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and approximately one million rounds of ammunition. California DOJ special agents are specially trained and prepared to expect anything when walking onto a scene.
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CARE Corner
 The Office of CARE recently published the “CARE Reference Guide.” This is a helpful tool designed to assist the public in navigating available resources at California DOJ and to provide contact information for frequently requested resources. This resource was developed in response to feedback from community partners highlighting the need for a clear and easy-to-use directory of California DOJ resources and contacts. The guide is available to view and to print on CARE’s website.
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Post of the Week
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FLASH BRIEFING
Attorney General Bonta Warns Californians About Hidden Risks of Deferred-Interest Medical Credit Cards
Attorney General Bonta Urges Supreme Court to Preserve Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians
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Video of the Week
 The verdict is in and a jury has found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for being an illegal monopolist that overcharged consumers and harmed the music industry.
This is a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them.
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Make a Difference at California DOJ
 Apply today to help California DOJ protect the health, well-being, and public safety of Californians. Check out our featured jobs below and visit oag.ca.gov/careers for a full listing of available positions:
Deputy Attorney General Supervisor, Office of the Solicitor General
Deputy Attorney General IV, Business Litigation
Deputy Attorney General IV, Consumer Protection Section
Deputy Attorney General III, Correctional Law Class Action
Digital Forensic Investigator, DMFEA Investigations Section
Licensing Analyst, Tribal Vendor Licensing Unit
DOJ Property Controller, Statewide Operational Services
Investigative Auditor, Bureau of Gambling Control
Fiscal Analyst, DLE Office of the Chief
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