[CLSTR]
< Back to situations

Monitor this situation.

[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE] · [POLITICS]

3 clusters · 15 sources · 6 days · First seen · Last updated

Fifth Circuit ruling on Jackson water contamination lawsuit

Overview

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit brought by residents of Jackson, Mississippi, regarding lead-contaminated drinking water. The 2022 lawsuit alleged that city officials misled the public about the safety of the water supply and violated constitutional rights to bodily integrity and due process through “two mediums: pipes and lies.”

In an en banc ruling in Sterling v. City of Jackson, the court voted 10–5 to affirm the dismissal. The court concluded that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to safe drinking water or truthful information from officials during a public health crisis. Writing for the majority, Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt stated that the Constitution does not provide redress for every instance of governmental wrongdoing.

The court applied a history-and-tradition test, rejecting the plaintiffs' arguments as seeking “recognition of two new constitutional rights lacking any foundation in the history and tradition of our nation.” While acknowledging that the deprivation of clean water may be “grievous,” the court found no established legal precedent to support reading such substantive due process rights into the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision establishes a legal distinction between municipal failures and constitutional violations. The ruling noted that while residents cannot pursue these specific constitutional claims, they may still seek remedies through other legal avenues, such as tort suits, federal receivership actions, or enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Entities

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · Jackson · Mississippi State Department of Health · Kurt Engelhardt · City of Jackson

Timeline

  1. 1 day ago

    [POLITICS] 6 sources
    Fifth Circuit rules clean water is not a constitutional right

    The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to clean water or truthful government information during public health crises.

  2. 4 days ago

    [POLITICS] 6 sources
    Fifth Circuit rules Constitution does not guarantee right to clean water

    A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to clean water, upholding the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Jackson, Mississippi residents over lead contamination.

  3. 7 days ago

    [POLITICS] 4 sources
    Fifth Circuit upholds dismissal of Jackson water contamination lawsuit

    The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by Jackson, Mississippi residents, ruling that lead-contaminated water does not violate a constitutional right to bodily integrity.

Sources

1053rnb.com · atlantablackstar.com · balleralert.com · ca.sports.yahoo.com · capitalbnews.org · dailyboulder.com · desotocountynews.com · ibtimes.co.uk · joemygod.com · mississippifreepress.org · planet-today.com · singtaousa.com · thecooldown.com · theguardian.com · theroot.com

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history