Federal Court Rules No Constitutional Right to Clean Drinking Water

A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to clean drinking water in a September 4 decision regarding a lawsuit from residents of Jackson, Mississippi, concerning the city’s lead-contaminated water system. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed the residents’ 2022 lawsuit. The plaintiffs, Priscilla Sterling, Raine Becker, Shawn Miller, and John Bennett, alleged that the city knowingly allowed residents to drink unsafe water. They argued that the water contamination violated their constitutional right to bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment’s due process clause. In the majority decision, Judge Kurt Engelhardt stated that while the deprivation of clean water was “grievous,” it did “not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right.” He expressed skepticism that the right to not be harmed by lead-contaminated water fits within the right to bodily integrity and noted that the plaintiffs did not provide historical tradition or Supreme Court precedent to support their claim. Engelhardt also stated there was no constitutional right to “truthful information from officials during a public health crisis.” The lawsuit was based on testing conducted by the Mississippi State Health Department between 2010 and 2013, which showed rising levels of lead in the water. The plaintiffs contended that the city failed to prevent further lead from entering the water supply and provided residents with false assurances regarding the safety of the water. The judge indicated that the lead exposure resulting from the city’s mismanagement was “wholly different” from past instances where governments infringed on bodily integrity, such as forced surgery or involuntary medicating. Engelhardt concluded that the Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing and suggested that residents seek other avenues for redress, including electing better representatives and petitioning the government for remedies. While the right to clean water is not included in the U.S. Constitution or the Mississippi state Constitution, several states, including California and Virginia, have enacted protections for access to safe water.