Court
of Claims Judge Mark Boonstra allowed parts of the Flint lawsuit to go forward
against the state for its decisions leading up to the Flint water crisis. This
decision will allow for the merits of such a case to be argued in court for the
first time.
Judge
Boonstra granted the state’s motion to dismiss two of the claims in the case,
but denied two others. The case, Mays v.
Snyder, can now move to the discovery and deposition phase, pending a state
appeal which seems highly likely. It is a class action lawsuit involving 6,000
plaintiffs that names Governor Rick Snyder, the state of Michigan, two state
departments and two of the appointed emergency managers, Darnell Earley and
Jerry Ambrose.
The
case represents possible a major financial judgement against the state. It is
unlikely the cases in federal court under the U.S. Constitution will see a
financial judgement, and most of the cases in the Genesee Circuit Court target
the private firms that assisted the water source switch from the Detroit system
to the Flint River.
Judge
Boonstra dismissed the constitutional claims that involved a state-created
danger and fair and just treatment. He allowed the claim regarding “a violation
of the protection afforded to an individual’s bodily integrity by the
substantive component of the due process clause” to proceed as well as the
claim of inverse condemnation to proceed. He also rejected the state’s
contention that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the six month statute of
limitations and the argument that Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Earley were city officials
and therefore subject to litigation in the Court of Claims.
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