The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against Jackson over lead in the city’s drinking water.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022 and dismissed in U.S. District Court in 2024, was brought by residents alleging the city knowingly allowed contaminated water to reach residents and misrepresented its safety. Plaintiffs Priscilla Sterling, Raine Becker, Shawn Miller, and John Bennett argued that city officials’ actions and failures led to lead contamination and violated their right to bodily integrity, based on testing from the Mississippi Department of Health between 2010 and 2013 that showed rising lead levels.
The plaintiffs claimed that instead of addressing the issue, the city ignored warnings and switched its water source from a safe groundwater system to a corrosive surface water system, which caused lead to leach from pipes into the water supply. The lawsuit named the city, former mayors Chokwe A. Lumumba and Tony Yarber, former public works directors Kishia Powell, Robert Miller, and Jerriot Smash, as well as Trilogy Engineering Services as defendants.
The appellate court, in its opinion, stated that while the alleged deprivations are serious, they do not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right. Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote that the claims are not comparable to bodily integrity cases like assault or forced surgery. “We are skeptical that the right to not be harmed by lead-contaminated water fits within the right to bodily integrity, and Plaintiffs point us to no historical tradition or Supreme Court precedent convincing us otherwise,” he wrote.
The court also noted there is no constitutional right to truthful information from officials during a public health crisis. However, it acknowledged the plaintiffs could pursue other legal remedies, such as tort claims or seeking legislative solutions. Jackson Mayor John Horhn expressed satisfaction with the ruling, stating, “We are pleased that the Fifth Circuit upheld the dismissal of these claims. The City remains committed to the health, safety, and well-being of every Jackson resident.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
