{"id":13273,"date":"2018-02-12T10:10:21","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T18:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/law\/2018\/02\/12\/chapman-dialogues-flint-water-crisis-noah-hall\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:22:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T16:22:42","slug":"chapman-dialogues-flint-water-crisis-noah-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2018\/02\/12\/chapman-dialogues-flint-water-crisis-noah-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapman Dialogue: Examining the Flint Water Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Flint water crisis, linked to more than a dozen deaths and devastating health consequences for many residents of the Michigan city, raises fundamental questions about governance and justice, Michigan Special Assistant Attorney General\u00a0Noah Hall told an audience Feb. 8 at the first Chapman Dialogue<\/a> lecture of 2018 at the Dale E. Fowler School of Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Noah
Noah Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe residents of Flint spent two years drinking water that is deadly, plain and simple,\u201d said Hall, also a professor of law at Wayne State University Law School. \u201cIt\u2019s killed people in Flint and shortened lifespans in Flint, destroyed IQs in Flint, destroyed health in Flint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-sponsored by the Schmid College of Science and Technology, the dialogue was assisted by commenter Jason Keller<\/a>, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences.<\/p>\n

Flint\u2019s water crisis unfolded after the state took over the city\u2019s finances because of budget deficits and the city turned to the Flint River as a residential water source, resulting in insufficiently treated water tainted with lead flowing into residents\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people in Flint drank that water for two years instead of using the safe water that was previously available and coming through from Detroit and Lake Huron because of a governance decision, and it was a governance decision made by somebody who was not elected or accountable to the people who have to live with the consequences of that decision,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n

As a special assistant to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, Hall is charged with seeking justice on behalf of the people of Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, justice is not people behind bars or paying a lot of money, frankly. I view people behind bars or moving money around as maybe the best we can do at this moment to give people a sense of justice, but those are certainly Band-Aids at best,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThey don\u2019t give people their lives back or restore their children or their families or their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said there is a three-part plan in motion:<\/p>\n