Happy New Year!
Are you ready to get to work? We need to aggressively raise society's consciousness about the heavy metal poisoning of our citizens.
We start the year of 2016 aware that Michigan bureaucrats knowingly poisoned Flint Michigan residents with lead-tainted municipal water. These bureaucrats lied to residents that by boiling their water, the water would be made safe to drink.
Those that could afford to buy bottled water were able to avoid ingesting the foul-smelling water coming from the faucets in their homes. Herein may lie the method of prosecuting those culpable for the lead poisoning of Flint Michigan residents.
Forcing those living below the poverty level to drink lead-tainted water may be a form of cruel and unusual punishment, and would thus violate their 8th Amendment rights.
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person(s) subjected to it.
There are generally tests that can serve as a guide to what cruel and unusual punishment is according to various legal textbooks in accordance with the law. These are: 1) the frequency at which the punishment occurs in society, 2) overall acceptance in society, 3) severity (i.e., the punishment fits the crime), and 4) if the punishment is arbitrary.
What is your opinion? Please comment.