Jury awards $11 million payout to neighborhood denied water
- added July 11, 2008
- 8 responses
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- goldenways
- added this
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Imagine one family with 10 children sharing two tubs of water between them on bath night. Imagine a neighborhood where residents either pay for private wells to be dug, haul water from cisterns, or collect rain water to be able to drink, cook, and bathe.
In your mental image, what year is this happening? What country is this taking place?
Did you say Columbus, OH, up until 2003? No!? Oh, yes, it's true — and the 67 plaintiffs denied public water service from 1956 up until five years ago have just been awarded $15,000 to $300,000 after civil rights attorneys sued and won a discrimination case in which residents of a mostly black neighborhood were denied public water service. The award totals $11 million.
The residents of the Coal Run neighborhood went without public water for decades. One resident says, "As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood. But I realized as an adult it was wrong." The money will compensate the plaintiffs for pain and suffering as well as monetary losses. To see the defense's argument, read more.
The defense that the plaintiffs were offered water years ago but refused services and that the case was a chance for out-of-town lawyers to make money from what they knew would be a generous cash settlement. And because many county residents — including commissioners, judges, and other local officials — are also not tied into the public water system, race played no part in the lack of services.
The Ohio Attorney General says, "this decision speaks firmly about the importance of treating citizens with equal respect, regardless of race."
In your mental image, what year is this happening? What country is this taking place?
Did you say Columbus, OH, up until 2003? No!? Oh, yes, it's true — and the 67 plaintiffs denied public water service from 1956 up until five years ago have just been awarded $15,000 to $300,000 after civil rights attorneys sued and won a discrimination case in which residents of a mostly black neighborhood were denied public water service. The award totals $11 million.
The residents of the Coal Run neighborhood went without public water for decades. One resident says, "As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood. But I realized as an adult it was wrong." The money will compensate the plaintiffs for pain and suffering as well as monetary losses. To see the defense's argument, read more.
The defense that the plaintiffs were offered water years ago but refused services and that the case was a chance for out-of-town lawyers to make money from what they knew would be a generous cash settlement. And because many county residents — including commissioners, judges, and other local officials — are also not tied into the public water system, race played no part in the lack of services.
The Ohio Attorney General says, "this decision speaks firmly about the importance of treating citizens with equal respect, regardless of race."
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- goldenways
- 3 months ago
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Water will be the next thing wars are fought over.
The world's getting very scary. -
Very familiar with the way some of these cities operate. We finally took ours back.The good ol' boys didn't like it very much. The only to prevent this kind of idiocy is to vote. Every time they open the doors at the polls, vote.
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- bluestranger
- 3 months ago
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This case will go on appeal and that amount will be discounted.
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I don't have public water where I live in north west Georgia. It is not available here either.
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- shroomfairy
- 3 months ago
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I live like 30 minutes from there and I had no idea.
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I also live about 30 minutes from Columbus, but this decision was not about the C-bus. The U.S. District Court is based in Columbus, but the decision was based on a neighborhood near Zanesville (about 30 minutes from me in the other direction). I actually read about the decision earlier today; it was on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch.
Here's the link:
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/200...
This is all about the long legacy of racism in this country which results in structural barriers that make racial parity very difficult to achieve. Institutional racism and the like. -
I brought this story up in a 'Stumbleupon' political forum this morning and was appalled at the narrow-mindedness displayed in response.
Time to evolve people!
check it out here - (topic starts at 33)
http://united-states-of-america.group.stumbleupon.com/f... -
More social injustice caught in the act... environmental justice full speed ahead!
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