Saturday, July 30, 2016

Could This Be A Change In Environmental Justice?

Flint Residents Treated as 'Expendable' By 6 State Workers Criminally Charged: UPDATE - Royal Oak, MI Patch:

Announcing charges against six state employees in two departments Friday, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette accused them of covering up reports of high lead levels in the Flint drinking water supply. Whether from “arrogance” or an attempt to support their own narrative that the drinking water was safe, they “viewed the people in Flint as expendable, as if they didn’t matter,” Schuette said...
Being found guilty of an environmental crime offers little justice, other than a fine. As a power company official reportedly said back in the 70s: "There goes one second's profit shot to hell." Nothing ever gets serious when fines are minuscule and insurance companies often have to pay out, instead of the offending company or agency (see any educational or police lawsuit). "Things are gonna get serious now" goes one cliche. That only happens when you start locking people up. The erosion of the respect for law is tied to high level criminals escaping justice, which, of course, has been going forever. Perhaps, putting some of these alleged "white collar" criminals in prison might instill some confidence in the public and some fear in the likes criminals like Cheney and Libby and the merry band of Wall Street miscreants.

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