So far, only three low-level state workers have been charged for the politically-motivated bad decisions, deliberate ignorance, and post-crisis coverups that caused the families of Flint, Michigan, to be subjected to high levels of lead in their water. However, prosecutors have already hinted that more charges are coming. In the meantime, civil lawsuits are being filed by people who have to worry about the future of children who could be affected for life.
And you know what they say—the bigger they are, the more public funds they blow on lawyering up.
Bills for an outside legal firm to represent Gov. Rick Snyder in civil lawsuits related to the Flint drinking water crisis are costing taxpayers close to $6,500 a day, and Snyder spent almost the entire $400,000 allocated for the legal contract in February and March alone, records show.
That’s just part of the picture. The total tab the Rickster has run up on taxpayer-funded legal help is already powering past $1.2 million. And that doesn’t count the $800,000 fund set up to protect Snyder against criminal charges after the three arrested workers start to cough up the people who gave them orders.
The fees are controversial, with critics saying Snyder should use only state attorneys from the Attorney General's Office or pay the outside firms using a legal defense fund, campaign funds or other non-taxpayer funds. Snyder says the legal fees arise directly from his official actions as governor and it is appropriate to charge them to the state.
Republicans always come down on the side of cutting public funds … as long as they’re not part of the public.
In case you’re interested, here’s how things are for other people who need legal assistance.
Michigan is one of only seven states that leaves trial-level indigent defense entirely to counties. Counties set their own pay rates for attorneys and maintain wildly varied standards for representation. In Wayne County, for instance, part-time public defenders handle as many as 2,800 cases each year, an unworkable caseload that far exceeds national standards for public defenders.
If Snyder was case number 2,801, then maybe some good would come out of this situation.