Judge tosses charges against 7 people in Flint water crisis

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ED WHITE

A Michigan judge dismissed charges Tuesday against seven people in the Flint water scandal, including two former state health officials blamed for deaths from Legionnaires’ disease.

Judge Elizabeth Kelly took action three months after the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously said a different judge acting as a one-person grand jury had no authority to issue indictments.

Kelly rejected efforts by the attorney general’s office to just send the cases to Flint District Court and turn them into criminal complaints, the typical path to filing felony charges in Michigan.

“Simply put, there are no valid charges,” Kelly said.



FILE - The Flint water plant tower is seen on Jan. 6, 2022, in Flint, Mich. A Michigan judge dismissed charges Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, against seven people in the Flint water scandal, including two former state health officials blamed for deaths from Legionnaires' disease. Judge Elizabeth Kelly took action three months after the Michigan Supreme Court said a one-judge grand jury had no authority to issue indictments. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-michigan-rick-snyder-flint-legionnaires-disease-ca34b527b0f46ac00d80aacd770c1ed2?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_04

[Evolve Dammit]

1. So much for any "environmental justice" and "no one is above the law." Pitiful.

[TheRealNorth]

3. Prison is only for the poor....

Or if you are a rich person stupid enough to commit a capital crime yourself and not pay someone else to do it for you.

[Evolve Dammit]

6. Same as it ever was?

[marble falls]

2. Next time call a proper grandjury.

[Kaleva]

4. +1

[iluvtennis]

5. SMDH. n/t

[TigressDem]

7. Was Judge Elizabeth Kelly appointed or elected? AND what does the EVIDENCE say?

THIS IS TRUE:

“State employees should not be prosecuted or demonized for just doing their job,” Lyon said after the court’s decision.


BUT THEY DID NOT DO THEIR JOB AND PEOPLE DIED. THAT IS WILLFUL NEGLIGENCE RESULTING IN WRONGFUL DEATHS.

The saga began in 2014 when Flint managers appointed by Snyder dropped out of a regional water system and began using the Flint River to save money while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was under construction. State regulators insisted the river water didn’t need to be treated to reduce its corrosive qualities. But that was a ruinous decision: Lead released from old pipes flowed for 18 months in the majority-Black city.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said it was the result of systemic racism, doubting that the water switch and the brush-off of complaints would have occurred in a white, prosperous community.

[NullTuples]

8. Elected per Ballotpedia

The 221 judges of the Michigan Circuit Courts are selected in an identical manner, each serving six-year terms. They are chosen in nonpartisan elections and must face re-election if they wish to continue serving. Candidates are placed on the ballot via nonpartisan primaries or by nominating petitions.

https://ballotpedia.org/Elizabeth_Anne_Kelly