Appeals court rules the constitution guarantees no right to clean water

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 10-5 on September 4 that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to clean drinking water, upholding dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Jackson, Mississippi residents over the city’s lead-contaminated water system, according to reporting from the Mississippi Free Press.

Priscilla Sterling filed the case, Sterling v. City of Jackson, in 2022 along with residents Raine Becker, Shawn Miller and John Bennett, according to Law Commentary’s coverage. Sterling’s children were diagnosed with lead poisoning after exposure to the city’s tap water, the Mississippi Free Press reported. The plaintiffs alleged the city knew about the risk of lead contamination in its water system and failed to address it or warn residents.

Writing for the majority, Judge Kurt Engelhardt said the harm residents described was real but did not amount to a constitutional violation. “These deprivations, while grievous, do not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right,” Engelhardt wrote, according to the Mississippi Free Press. “The Constitution does not provide a remedy for Plaintiffs’ injuries. But that does not mean they are without a remedy,” the majority opinion stated, pointing instead to state tort claims, electing new officials or petitioning the legislature.

The court also found that even if the city’s actions had violated residents’ due process rights, qualified immunity would shield the officials involved because no “clearly established right” was violated at the time, according to reporting from the Spokesman-Review.

Five judges dissented, led by Judge Catharina Haynes, who argued the majority ignored the state-created danger doctrine, a theory adopted by 10 of the nation’s 13 federal circuit courts, according to the Mississippi Free Press. Haynes wrote that “at a minimum, Plaintiffs are entitled to discovery on their sufficiently plausible allegations that the City violated their constitutional rights.” She compared the case to Flint, Michigan, calling Jackson’s water crisis “one of the worst public health crises in recent American history,” the Spokesman-Review reported.

The ruling came more than four years after Sterling and the other plaintiffs first filed their complaint in federal district court, according to the Mississippi Free Press. Attorneys for the plaintiffs may still seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Court records in the case showed the city knew of potential lead contamination in its water system as far back as 2011 but took no action for years, according to reporting from WLBT. Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the city was “pleased with the decision” and remains committed to residents’ health and safety, WLBT reported. City Attorney Drew Martin said the ruling “brings this case to an important conclusion at the appellate level.”

Jackson’s water system has separately operated under a Safe Drinking Water Act consent decree with the EPA since 2020 and has been run by a court-appointed third-party manager since November 2022, following a 2022 collapse that left the city under a boil-water notice for nearly two months, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s timeline of the crisis. The city still faces separate litigation over its water system’s management, including a case before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, the Mississippi Free Press reported.