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The local government never had a say in the matter. This move was made solely on the authority of the emergency manager appointed by the governor's office. Rick Snyder used symbolic votes by the city council and statements by the Mayor as proof of some form of local decision making when in reality neither mattered. This boils down to a garbage emergency manager system and the impact of appointing a local autocrat who's only allegiance is the balanced budget.
Agreed. All the evidence leads ultimately to the appointed emergency managers vis a vis Snyder, who was absent at the 1st congressional hearing today. I just don't want people to only lose their jobs. Criminal charges ought to be filed for the reckless disregard of public safety. Where is the outrage in the D&D over thousands of children drinking what amounts to toxic water? We sure see a lot more posts over Hillary's email scandal. Smh...
...Another interesting thing to look at as a sidebar...with the whole "emergency manager" thing... ...is the records of some of the people the governor appointed to those positions... ...those records couldn't have gotten some of those people jobs at Wal-Mart....
fast forward ~ 3+ yrs to 6-13-2019 New Mich. Prosecutors Drop Charges, without prejudice, In Flint Water Investigation, Promising a New Probe They are not precluded from refiling charges against the defendants, or adding new charges and additional defendants https://www.npr.org/2019/06/13/732540100/mich-prosecutors-drop-charges-in-flint-water-investigation-but-promise-new-probe Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who assumed control of the investigation in January 2019, said they had "immediate and grave concerns" about the investigation conducted by the previous team of prosecutors. They concluded that "contrary to accepted standards of criminal investigation and prosecution, all available evidence was not pursued." They also said that by dismissing the cases against the defendants they can move forward with "a thorough, methodical and ethical investigation," rather than "build on a flawed foundation. this announcement came 10 days after the seizure of cell phones, hard drives and other electronic devise of former Mi Governor, Rick Snyder, and 65 other former state officials. Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud said in a statement, "The prosecution is aware of substantial potential evidence that was not provided to the original prosecution team from the onset of the investigation. The team is currently in the process of obtaining this evidence through a variety of means, including search warrants." https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/poli...or-phone-seized-flint-water-crisis/index.html
New Mich. Prosecutors, In Flint Water Investigation, Promising a New Probe Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud says she reserves the right to refile the criminal charges she dropped or new ones when her investigation is complete. The current Special presecutor Nessel says the eight defendants whose cases were dismissed shouldn't "be resting any easier," and that she has"every expectation that those cases would be refiled, maybe with additional charges." But that's not Nessel's decision: The AG's oversight of civil lawsuits arising from the water crisis precludes her from supervising the criminal probe, so by law she must defer to Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy, who is assisting the special prosecutor, decide to proceed. Hammoud claims in court filings that Todd Flood, the special prosecutor Nessel's predecessor appointed to supervise the Flint prosecutions in 2017, failed to conduct a thorough investigation, leaving Hammoud's team with few options but to start over. https://www.freep.com/story/opinion...-new-prosecutor-flint-water-probe/1486336001/
Court kills Flint water charges against ex-governor, others https://apnews.com/article/health-crime-michigan-indictments-rick-snyder-609f461af3bb2d7f10a40c5d663620eb excerpt: DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal, saying a judge sitting as a one-person grand jury had no power to issue indictments under rarely used state laws. It’s an astonishing defeat for Attorney General Dana Nessel, who took office in 2019, got rid of a special prosecutor and put together a new team to investigate whether crimes were committed when lead contaminated Flint’s water system in 2014-15. State laws “authorize a judge to investigate, subpoena witnesses, and issue arrest warrants” as a grand juror, the Supreme Court said. “But they do not authorize the judge to issue indictments,” the court said in a 6-0 opinion written by Chief Justice Bridget McCormack. She called it a “Star Chamber comeback,” a pejorative reference to an oppressive, closed-door style of justice in England in the 17th century. more at the link
