Former Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder’s Legal Team says “Neglecting a city is not a crime.”
What We Know:
- Former Governor Rick Snyder’s representatives argue that the charges against him regarding the Flint Water Crisis should be dismissed. According to Metro Times, Snyder’s defense attorney Brian Lennon states “Neglecting a city is not a crime. Nor did Governor Snyder have any duties ‘owed specifically to Flint.’” In their motion to quash the indictment, the team argues that the two charges of Willful Neglect of Duty from January should be dropped because they came from Genesee County while Snyder worked in Ingham County.
- The former Mayor of Flint, Sheldon Neeley, says the statement “‘neglecting a city is not a crime’ is infuriating”. He goes on to say that the neglect of communities of color must be a conscious decision. In fact, this crisis is believed to be an example of environmental racism. This crisis began in 2014 and the people of Flint have had little to no help from the government. It is safe to say that this is a race issue, as many of the residents of Flint are black.
- In 2016, Snyder addressed the people of Michigan with clear regret in his State of the State speech. He apologized and told the people that he would fix this crisis. Later, emails surfaced that showed that state officials knew about the contamination and risk of disease one year before the event.
- Judge William Crawford II has postponed the case because he does not have enough experience with cases like this. The judge says has never seen something like this in law school or on the Bar. Crawford stated that he needed two weeks before he could hear Snyder’s argument to dismiss charges. Unlike in federal courts, which have law clerks for assistance, Crawford in the district court does not have such assistance.
The Flint Water Crisis, caused by the contamination of the Flint water supply, has led to the deaths of at least 12 people. The punishment Snyder was facing for the charges in January was a $1,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail.
