Jackson, MS Residents Not Legally Protected From Poisonous Water Supply [Op-Ed]

Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, a city that is roughly 82% Black, have been grappling with an ongoing water crisis — a public health crisis caused by infrastructure neglect, severe weather, and a deteriorating water system — since the near-collapse of its water treatment plant in 2022. This month, the U.S. court system responded to the issue the same way America has always responded to Black people in crisis: by telling them they don’t have the right to live.

Well, OK, what actually happened is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in a 10-5 decision that the alleged contamination of Jackson’s water system did not violate rights protected by the 14th Amendment.

“The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote in response to a lawsuit filed by residents over the city’s lead-contaminated water system in 2022. According to 8 News Now, plaintiffs Priscilla Sterling, Raine Becker, Shawn Miller and John Bennett argued that the city knowingly allowed residents to drink unsafe water, and the court basically decided that, even if that’s true, the U.S. Constitution doesn’t directly say city leaders aren’t allowed to do that…

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