On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the city of Jackson, Mississippi, which alleged the city knowingly let residents drink lead-contaminated water.
asserted
residents → affirm → water
The lawsuit, first filed in 2022, says the contamination violated Jacksonians’ constitutional right to bodily integrity.
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contamination → file → integrity
Donald Trump-appointed judge Kurt Engelhardt disagreed.
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Engelhardt → appoint → ?
“The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Engelhardt said.
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Engelhardt → provide → wrongdoing
“Defendants’ actions allegedly deprived Plaintiffs of clean water and guileless information.
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actions → deprive → water
These deprivations, while grievous, do not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right.”
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deprivations → infringe → right
That may be true in Mississippi—but on the state level in at least nine US states, and in more than a dozen other countries, clean drinking water is in fact a protected right.
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water → protect → fact
In countries including Uruguay and South Africa, a right to clean water is enshrined in the constitution.
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right → include → constitution
New York’s state constitution, as of a 2021 amendment, states that “each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”
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person → state → air
So too in Massachusetts, where “the right to clean air and water” has been constitutionally protected since 1972
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right → protect → 1972
But according to the Fifth Circuit ruling, the US constitution is too narrow for such a claim.
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constitution → accord → claim
The Jackson plaintiffs alleged that their city government deliberately withheld information about the water’s toxicity, and exacerbated the problem through a series of boil-water notices—a practice that can eliminate some bacterial contamination, but also concentrates lead in water.
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that → allege → water
Engelhardt stated there is no “constitutional right to truthful information from officials during a public health crisis.”
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Engelhardt → state → crisis
Jackson is more than 80 percent Black and has a poverty rate that is more than double the national average.
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that → have → rate
In 2015, officials from the Mississippi State Department of Health found elevated lead levels in the water supply.
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officials → find → supply
Instead of immediately informing citizens, they remained silent about the issue for six months, according to reporting from Grist, while residents continued drinking toxic water.
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residents → inform → water
EPA officials ran a series of tests in 2020 and found “persistent and concerning violations” of water safety policy, including leaks, corrosion, and high lead levels throughout the system.
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officials → run → system
But no city, state, or federal agencies fixed the problem.
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city → fix → problem
Meanwhile, people including Jackson plaintiff Priscilla Sterling continued drinking water with unsafe levels of lead.
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people → include → lead
According to the 2022 lawsuit, several of Sterling’s children have since been diagnosed with lead poisoning, which can cause permanent brain damage.
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which → accord → damage
The Fifth Circuit ruling comes as the Trump administration moves to weaken clean-water-related protections.
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administration → come → protections
Also on Friday, Trump’s EPA released a supplemental rule to further dilute the Clean Water Act, quickly condemned by environmental watchdogs.
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EPA → release → watchdogs
“The administration is clearly struggling to craft a rule that will hold up in court while satisfying their donors’ desire to effectively scrap these protections wherever possible,” said Jim Murphy of the National Wildlife Federation.
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Murphy → struggle → Federation
“One thing is clear: If we don’t protect our streams and wetlands, the cost of dirtier drinking water and increased flooding will flow downstream to households at a time when most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.”
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Americans → protect → paycheck
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