News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

New Supreme Court justice says she might sit out Flint cases

Flickr User Joe Gratz
/
https://flic.kr/p/bkUna

Governor Rick Snyder has named his legal advisor to the Michigan Supreme Court.

As the governor’s legal counsel, Beth Clement has played a role in some decisions that are now being litigated. That would include cases related to the Flint water crisis. 

“I’m aware of those potentials and prepared to look at each one individually.”

There will be conflicts. I will look at each and every case as they come and make a decision on whether or not I need to recuse myself.”

The governor did not specifically say he’ll reject the bill. But Snyder says he prefers the more-stringent rules to protect against invasive species in the Great Lakes.

“I’ve been proud of the standards we’ve had in Michigan, and I’m open to saying if there’s a better standard nationally or federally at some point, there could be a transition, but I don’t want to necessarily see a gap where we could go backwards in terms of our practices in Michigan.”

The bill has been adopted by the House and the Senate, but it still has not been delivered to Snyder for a decision on whether to sign or veto it.