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New round of Flint indictments could test Michigan's emergency manager law

Darnell Earley, one of Flint's former emergency managers
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio
Darnell Earley, one of Flint's former emergency managers

Our conversation with Peter Henning. He's a professor of law at Wayne State University and a former federal prosecutor.

Darnell Earley, one of Flint's former emergency managers
Credit Steve Carmody / Michigan Radio
/
Michigan Radio
Darnell Earley, one of Flint's former emergency managers

Attorney General Bill Schuette today unveiled a new batch of criminal charges in the Flint water disaster.

Charged today are former Flint emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, along with Howard Croft, former director of Public Works in Flint, and Daugherty Johnson, former utilities director of Flint.

This brings the total number of people charged by Schuette to 13.

Wayne State University Law professor and former federal prosecutor Peter Henning joined Stateside today to break down the charges.

The two emergency managers, Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose, are charged with false pretenses and conspiracy, both of which are 20 year felonies. They’re also charged with misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty.

The charges raise questions, as many have said, about whether the state’s emergency manager law protects Earley and Ambrose.

“Well, it protects them from being sued,” Henning said, “but it’s not clear that it protects them from criminal charges.”

To hear this conversation, listen above.

(Subscribe to the Stateside podcast oniTunes,Google Play, or with thisRSS link)

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