Penn Undergraduate Law Journal
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs

The Roundtable


Welcome to the Roundtable, a forum for incisive commentary and analysis
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.


The Flint Water Crisis – It’s Not Over

3/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Alana Mattei
Alana Mattei is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

In 2014, officials made a choice that haunted the residents of Flint, Michigan for years to come.  It’s been almost four years since the water flowing from taps in Flint became unsafe, undrinkable, and the cause of a major public health crisis.  At first, this crisis dominated the news cycle, but as of today it has been largely displaced.  While the story no longer makes headlines on a daily basis, Americans are reminded occasionally that all, or at least part, of Flint still lacks access to clean drinking water years later.  In November of 2017, tap water was still not drinkable for many residents.  Although the contaminated Flint River was no longer the city’s water source, water coming from the new clean source still needs to pass through the corroded pipes which leaked lead into the water. [1]
At the onset of 2016, Michigan’s Attorney General, Bill Schuette, began an independent review of the situation.  The first charges were levied against three officials later that year. To date, forty-three charges against thirteen public officials have been filed, including former Emergency Managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose.  Both men are charged “with multiple 20-year felonies for their failure to protect the residents of Flint from health hazards caused by contaminated drinking water” [2].  Ambrose decided to wave his preliminary exam hearing and proceed with a trial that could begin as early as this spring. [3]

Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Nick Lyon, faces charges as serious as involuntary manslaughter.  More specifically, Lyon is being charged with the death of a man who contracted Legionnaire’s disease from consumption of the contaminated water. [4] This death was one of around a dozen due to Legionnaires’ that occurred after the city changed its water source in 2014.[5]  The prosecutor’s case as a whole, however, is not so clear cut.  The choices made by Michigan’s public officials contributed to a plethora of ailments in the Flint population, with the fatal cases of Legionnaire’s disease being among the most serious.  To link the actions of the officials to cases of Legionnaire’s and subsequent deaths requires the prosecution to meticulously piece together the timeline of events and rely on scientific studies that found a definite link between the 2014-2015 outbreak and the switch to the Flint River. [6]

The suffering of Flint residents because of the mistakes and inaction of public officials may continue into the relatively distant future even after the officials have been prosecuted. Some consequences of the contaminated water source may not come to light for years to come.  Aside from the almost immediate physical sickness suffered by residents of Flint, the high levels of lead in their water may also have long-term social implications.  

Lead has been linked to serious developmental problems in those who ingest it at a young age.  These problems take effect immediately but produce results that are slow to come to the surface – like cases where high levels of lead in the blood is linked to lower IQs and behavioral issues. [7] Possibly worse, however, is the fact the changes caused by lead in developing brains may make these children more likely to end up on the wrong end of the criminal justice system later in life.  It’s been determined that the changes that occur in a developing brain’s chemistry and structure due to high blood lead levels may make these individuals more predisposed to criminal tendencies that escalate as they age. [8]

High levels of lead in a child’s blood could lead to disabilities such as ADHD and difficulty with impulse control.  The “lead-crime hypothesis” cites a decrease in the use of leaded gasoline as a cause of the decline in America’s violent crime rates in the 1990s.  Children in the 1940s and 1950s had ingested copious amounts of lead because of leaded gasoline.  It has been proposed that these children “were more likely to become violent criminals in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.” [9] Individuals who were young at the time of the institution of the Clean Air Act of 1970, on the other hand, presumably grew up with lower blood lead levels than the previous generation and therefore went on to commit fewer violent crimes. This matches up with the decline in violent crime in the mid-1990s. [10]

It will be interesting to see if in the coming years Flint experiences an opposite trend.  Flint may still be suffering the consequences of their tainted drinking water for more than twenty years to come as those children who ingested lead in 2014-2017 grow up to ages where their behavioral issues turn into crimes.  It is by no means a given that this will happen, and hopefully it will not, but if it does it may serve to bolster the lead-crime hypothesis and lead to the reevaluation of policy in other regions where lead consumption is an issue.


Sources:
[1] Ravve, Ruth. "Flint water crisis: Some residents still unable to drink tap water three years later." Fox News. Accessed February 18, 2018.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/03/flint-water-crisis-michigan-residents-still-unable-to-drink-tap-water-three-years-later.html.

[2] "Four More Officials Charged in Third Round of Flint Water Crisis Criminal Investigation." AG - Four More Officials Charged in Third Round of Flint Water Crisis Criminal Investigation. Accessed February 22, 2018.
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-359-82917_78314_78319-400211--,00.html
.

[3] Fleming, Leonard N. "Ex-Flint EM decides to head straight to trial." Detroit News. January 25, 2018. Accessed February 22, 2018.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2018/01/25/flint-gerald-ambrose-waive-trial/109805008/.

[4] Fonger, Ron. "MDHHS Director Nick Lyon won't return to court until 2018." MLive.com. December 15, 2017. Accessed February 22, 2018.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2017/12/mdhhs_director_nick_lyon_wont.html
.

[5] Fonger, Ron |. "Flint water prosecutors about to rest in preliminary exam for DHHS director." MLive.com. February 16, 2018. Accessed February 21, 2018.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2018/02/prosecution_about_rest_in_prel.html
.

[6] Zahran, Sammy, Shawn P. McElmurry, Paul E. Kilgore, David Mushinski, Jack Press, Nancy G. Love, Richard C. Sadler, and Michele S. Swanson. "Assessment of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Flint, Michigan." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. February 01, 2018. Accessed February 22, 2018.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/31/1718679115
.

[7] Drum, Kevin. "Lead: America’s Real Criminal Element." Mother Jones. June 23, 2017. Accessed February 21, 2018.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health/.

[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
Photo credit: Flickr user George Thomas


The opinions and views expressed through this publication are the opinions of the designated authors and do not reflect the opinions or views of the Penn Undergraduate Law Journal, our staff, or our clients.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    Aaron Tsui
    Akshita Tiwary
    Alana Bess
    Alana Mattei
    Albert Manfredi
    Alexander Saeedy
    Alexandra Aaron
    Alexandra Kanan
    Alexandra Kerrigan
    Alice Giannini
    Alicia Augustin
    Alicia Kysar
    Ally Kalishman
    Ally Margolis
    Alya Abbassian
    Amanda Damayanti
    Anika Prakash
    Anna Schwartz
    Arshiya Pant
    Ashley Kim
    Astha Pandey
    Audrey Pan
    Benjamin Ng'aru
    Brónach Rafferty
    Bryce Klehm
    Cary Holley
    Catherine Tang
    Christina Gunzenhauser
    Christine Mitchell
    Christopher Brown
    Clarissa Alvarez
    Cole Borlee
    Connor Gallagher
    Dan Spinelli
    Dan Zhang
    David Katz
    Davis Berlind
    Derek Willie
    Dhilan Lavu
    Edgar Palomino
    Edna Simbi
    Ella Jewell
    Ella Sohn
    Emma Davies
    Esther Lee
    Evelyn Bond
    Filzah Belal
    Frank Geng
    Gabrielle Cohen
    Gabriel Maliha
    Georgia Ray
    Graham Reynolds
    Habib Olapade
    Hailie Goldsmith
    Haley Son
    Hannah Steinberg
    Harshit Rai
    Hennessis Umacta
    Henry Lininger
    Hetal Doshi
    Ingrid Holmquist
    Iris Zhang
    Irtaza Ali
    Isabela Baghdady
    Ishita Chakrabarty
    Jack Burgess
    Jessica "Lulu" Lipman
    Joe Anderson
    Jonathan Lahdo
    Jonathan Stahl
    Joseph Squillaro
    Justin Yang
    Kaitlyn Rentala
    Kanishka Bhukya
    Katie Kaufman
    Kelly Liang
    Keshav Sharma
    Ketaki Gujar
    Khlood Awan
    Lauren Pak
    Lavi Ben Dor
    Libby Rozbruch
    Lindsey Li
    Luis Bravo
    Lyan Casamalhuapa
    Lyndsey Reeve
    Madeline Decker
    Maja Cvjetanovic
    Maliha Farrooz
    Marco DiLeonardo
    Margaret Lu
    Matthew Caulfield
    Michael Keshmiri
    Michael Merolla
    Mina Nur Basmaci
    Muskan Mumtaz
    Natalie Peelish
    Natasha Darlington
    Natasha Kang
    Nathan Liu
    Nayeon Kim
    Nicholas Parsons
    Nicholas Williams
    Nicole Greenstein
    Nicole Patel
    Nihal Sahu
    Omar Khoury
    Owen Voutsinas Klose
    Owen Voutsinas-Klose
    Paula Vekker
    Pheby Liu
    Pragat Patel
    Rachel Bina
    Rachel Gu
    Rachel Pomerantz
    Rebecca Heilweil
    Regina Salmons
    Sajan Srivastava
    Samantha Graines
    Sandeep Suresh
    Sanjay Dureseti
    Sarah Simon
    Saranya Das Sharma
    Saranya Sharma
    Sasha Bryski
    Saxon Bryant
    Sean Foley
    Sebastian Bates
    Serena Camici
    Shahana Banerjee
    Shannon Alvino
    Shiven Sharma
    Siddarth Sethi
    Sneha Parthasarathy
    Sneha Sharma
    Sophie Lovering
    Steven Jacobson
    Suaida Firoze
    Suprateek Neogi
    Takane Shoji
    Tanner Bowen
    Taryn MacKinney
    Thomas Cribbins
    Todd Costa
    Tyler Larkworthy
    Tyler Ringhofer
    Vatsal Patel
    Vikram Balasubramanian
    Vishwajeet Deshmukh
    Wajeeha Ahmad
    Yeonhwa Lee

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    September 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.