After six years and no resolution, there is now some sort of justice for the residents of Flint, Michigan. In a recent court ruling, all city residents are now allowed to officially sue over water contamination that happened back in 2014.
It’s still hard to believe that after all this time, Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean water. The issue is hardly talked about anymore, but quietly the U.S. Supreme Court recently gave residents some good news. @Reuters reports, that U.S. Supreme Court has given the greenlight for Flint residents to pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city and government officials, accusing them of knowingly allowing the Flint’s water supply to become contaminated with lead.
The U.S Supreme Court justices rejected multiple appeals by the city, state and local officials to stop the lawsuit from moving forward. A demand for immunity was also rejected due to the court finding that they violated the residents’ right to “bodily integrity” under the U.S. Constitution by providing the tainted water after switching water sources in a cost-cutting move in 2014.
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You may remember that Flint switched its public water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to reduce costs during a city-wide financial crisis. The corrosive water in Flint caused lead to leach from pipes.
The city switched back to Lake Huron water the following year. However, the contaminated river water set off an outbreak of bacteria-caused Legionnaires’ disease, which killed 12 people and caused dozens of others to become sick. Lead poisoning is known to stunt children’s cognitive development and exposure to it on any level is considered unsafe.
The number of people who have reported being harmed by Flint’s contaminated water has reached more than 25,000, including more than 5,000 children under 12 years old, according to court records.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?
