5th Circuit Rejects 2022 Jackson Water Suit, Finds No Constitutional Right to Clean Water
Updated
Updated · Mother Jones · Sep 5
5th Circuit Rejects 2022 Jackson Water Suit, Finds No Constitutional Right to Clean Water
3 articles · Updated · Mother Jones · Sep 5
Summary
A Sept. 4 ruling by the 5th Circuit upheld dismissal of Jackson residents’ 2022 lawsuit over lead-contaminated drinking water, saying the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to clean water.
Four plaintiffs argued the city knowingly let residents drink unsafe water and violated their 14th Amendment right to bodily integrity, but the court said lead exposure from mismanagement was unlike recognized bodily-integrity violations such as forced surgery.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt also rejected claims that officials had a constitutional duty to provide truthful information during a public health crisis, writing that not every government wrong has a constitutional remedy.
The case grew out of Mississippi health department testing from 2010 to 2013 that showed rising lead levels in Jackson’s water; the court said residents must seek relief through political or other legal channels instead.
Safe-water protections exist in some states, including California and Virginia, but neither the U.S. Constitution nor Mississippi’s constitution explicitly guarantees that right.