You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules
And if your tap water is undrinkable, you have no “constitutional right to truthful information” about it.
A judge appointed by Donald Trump has ruled that the residents of Jackson, Mississippi do not have a constitutional right to safe drinking water. In a lawsuit filed in 2022, the plaintiffs argued that the city government's deliberate withholding of information about water toxicity and exacerbation of the problem contributed to lead poisoning among residents.
However, Judge Kurt Engelhardt disagreed, stating that the Constitution does not guarantee redress for every governmental wrongdoing. While clean water rights are recognized in several US states and countries like Uruguay and South Africa, the US Constitution is deemed too narrow to support such a claim according to the Fifth Circuit ruling.
Jackson, which is over 80% Black and has a poverty rate more than double the national average, has long struggled with a contaminated water system that officials failed to address promptly. In 2015, elevated lead levels were found in the water supply, but residents only became aware of the issue six months later. Despite EPA findings of persistent violations of water safety policies, including high lead levels, no corrective measures were taken.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration seeks to weaken clean-water-related protections, further emphasizing the ongoing struggle to ensure access to safe drinking water for all Americans.
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