Flint residents sue over delayed EPA response News
Flint residents sue over delayed EPA response

More than 1,700 residents of Flint, Michigan, on Monday filed [complaint, PDF] a class action lawsuit against the US, claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website] has failed to respond to damage claims arising from the Flint water crisis. The claims total $722 million. The suit alleges that the EPA has failed to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Tort Claims Act [text], which allows federal agencies to settle claims against the US. The claim notes that Flint residents were exposed to dangerously high lead contents for nearly 18 months, and that “as of November 25, 2016, the two and one half year anniversary [of the Flint water crisis], the water delivered to the people of Flint remains unsafe to drink, use for cooking or use for bathing.”

These claims are some of the myriad of legal actions taken in response to the Flint water crisis. In December Michigan’s Attorney General announced [JURIST report] that felony charges were filed against four former state officials connected with the Flint water crisis, with maximum prison sentences of 46 years available to the prosecutors. That same month a federal court affirmed [JURIST report] a lower court decision requiring the state of Michigan to provide bottled water to Flint residents. Last September the US Senate approved legislation to provide $100 million in emergency funding to repair pipes in cities suffering from lead contamination.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.