csmonitor | The judge presiding over Detroit's bankruptcy said Monday he could not block the city of Detroit from cutting off water access to residents with delinquent bills.
With
this order, Judge Steven Rhodes rejected the pleas from thousands of
protesters who argued over the summer that water is a basic human right.
Those protests briefly grabbed headlines during the historic bankruptcy
proceedings that have consumed the city since last year. Even the United Nations criticized Detroit for human rights violations, after the city's mass water shutoffs.
But
in response to a lawsuit filed to mandate a six-month moratorium on
shutoffs, Judge Rhodes said there is no legal basis for citizens to
claim water rights.
"Chapter 9 strictly limits the courts' power in a bankruptcy case," he said, according to the Detroit Free Press. Detroit represents the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.
He also said banning water shutoffs would be a blow to Detroit's finances that the city cannot afford.
"The last thing (Detroit) needs is this hit to its revenues," he said, according to The Detroit News.
Rhodes
agreed in part with the plaintiffs – which include water customers,
attorneys, and welfare rights groups – that long-term damage can occur
when people do not have access to water. Still, he said "significant
harm" could happen in the case of a six-month moratorium, reports Michigan Radio.
In
a city that can often be painted as a symbol of American manufacturing
decline and urban decay, the water shutoffs offer a window onto the
basic steps the city must take in order to make the long journey of
recovery, says Aaron Renn, an analyst with the urban policy website, The Urbanophile.
