Critics say there was little accountability when Republicans headed the investigation and its targets have been let off lightly

New Democratic leadership in the investigation into the Flint water crisis has sparked hope among activists that a tougher line will be taken on prosecuting officials and compensating victims of the environmental disaster.

The move comes after three years of Republicans leading the investigation saw 15 state and city officials face criminal charges or be prosecuted over decisions that led to at least 12 deaths, and likely sickened thousands more. At the same time, hundreds of civil lawsuits representing tens of thousands of victims are working their way through state and federal courts.

But critics say there’s been little accountability when Republicans headed the investigation and its targets have been let off lightly. None of the crisis’s perpetrators have paid a fine or served a day in jail for poisoning the city’s water or the subsequent cover-up. Likewise, the state isn’t paying reparations for the deaths or health problems resulting from Flint’s lead-tainted water.

Now newly elected Democratic Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel has taken over the investigation from 1 January. She enters office after a 2018 campaign in which she labeled the prosecutions “politically charged show trials” designed to benefit her predecessor, Republican Bill Schuette, who ran for governor last year.

Though Schuette’s special prosecutor, Todd Flood, initially charged suspects with felonies like involuntary manslaughter and false pretenses, he ended up negotiating seven plea deals for misdemeanors as minor as “disturbing the peace at a public meeting”.

At the same time, Schuette spent over $25m in taxpayer money on legal fees, some of which funded the state’s fights against the civil lawsuits seeking compensation.

But Nessel has pledged to fully re-evaluate the investigation, and after a week in office she announced a dramatic shift in the state’s approach to Flint.

On the criminal side, Nessel asked a Democratic prosecutor to review and take over the investigation. That could lead to more charges, or frivolous charges being dropped. Nessel also directed the state to settle civil lawsuits brought against it, which would result in victims finally receiving compensation.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest None of the crisis’s perpetrators have paid a fine or served a day in jail for poisoning the city’s water or the subsequent cover-up. Photograph: Carlos Osorio/AP

With Democrats now investigating Flint, there’s a sense among many activists and community leaders that Michigan is finally serious about seeking justice for victims. The Republican-led investigation “was never about the state taking responsibility and making sure that the health of Flint’s families was the focus,” said Michigan senate minority leader and Flint resident Jim Ananich.

“It was about trying to protect the governor’s image and do public relations, and now it will be about getting Flint the justice it deserves, and making families whole,” he said.

The shift may also highlight the failure of the Republicans’ austerity measures in Michigan that many say are the crisis’s source. In November 2012, voters repealed governor Rick Snyder and the Republican-controlled legislature’s controversial emergency financial manager law. But Republicans reworked the law and rammed through a new version two months later, paving the way for Snyder to install a financial manager in Flint.

That financial manager in April 2014 ordered the city to begin pulling water from the Flint river instead of purchasing it from Detroit as a cost saving measure. Soon after, Flint’s water turned dark as residents began experiencing lead poisoning symptoms and dying from Legionnaires disease.

A series of meaningful sentences and payouts could be viewed not just as a condemnation of those involved in the immediate crisis, but wider Republican policies, as well.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Michigan Governor Rick Snyder testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on about the Flint crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2016. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

“This happens sometimes with both parties – they don’t want to admit their own party made some mistakes, and lots of mistakes were made here,” Ananich said.

Nessel is tapping Kym Worthy for the special prosecutor position, though the latter hasn’t yet accepted the offer. She’s now the prosecutor in a county that’s home to Detroit, and experts say is trusted locally after handling other complex, situations. That includes successfully processing a backlog of 11,000 untested rape kits discovered in a Detroit police station in 2010, and the successful prosecution of two white police officers who in 1992 beat to death a black man, Malice Green.

A Nessel spokesperson declined to comment, but Nessel said of Worthy in a press release: “There is no one whose opinion I value more when it comes to the complexity and importance of these cases.”

Nessel’s office hasn’t said who else could be charged should Worthy or another special prosecutor take over the case. Charges could also be dropped. During her campaign, Nessel criticized Schuette for paying Flood an hourly rate, which she said incentivized “the charging of unsustainable cases” and other measures to drag out the process.

She also questionedFlood’s impartiality. He was appointed to investigate Snyder and his administration, even though he’s a Snyder campaign donor.

On the civil side, Schuette has argued the state doesn’t have a constitutional obligation to provide clean water, and it has been difficult for those suing the government to get around the defense of sovereign immunity, which shields officials from legal responsibility. In one of the largest civil cases, a federal judge granted immunity to Snyder, high ranking environmental officials and an emergency financial manager.

Sign up for the US morning briefing

That case consists of 12 class action suits consolidated into one large suit. Plaintiffs are asking for an independent monitor to ensure state health and environmental departments are complying with court orders. They’re also seeking the establishment of a fund for 100,000 people affected by the crisis.

The plaintiff’s co-counsel, Michael Pitt, says he’s more confident that victims will see some justice now that Nessel is in charge.

“She’s very dedicated to the goal of making sure the victims of state abuse and government abuse are taken care of in the proper way,” he said.

Still, the damage is so far-reaching that it’s going to be difficult to repair, said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University Law School professor and former federal prosecutor. “How much is the state willing to commit?” Henning asked.

“That’s the issue. Leaving all the legal niceties aside, how much is the state willing to pay?”