Fifth Circuit affirms dismissal of Jackson lead-water suit, finding no constitutional right to clean water

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed the dismissal of a 2022 lawsuit alleging that Jackson, Mississippi, knowingly let residents drink lead-contaminated water. Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote that the deprivations alleged, while grievous, do not infringe a deeply rooted constitutional right, and that there is no constitutional right to truthful information from officials during a public health crisis. The plaintiffs had argued the contamination and a series of boil-water notices violated their right to bodily integrity. Jackson is more than 80 percent Black, and the suit said several children of plaintiff Priscilla Sterling were diagnosed with lead poisoning. Also Friday, the EPA released a supplemental rule further diluting the Clean Water Act.