You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, Trump-Appointed Judge Rules
A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump ruled that there is no constitutional right to safe drinking water in a case involving the city of Jackson, Mississippi. The ruling dismissed claims that the city's failure to provide clean water and transparent information violated constitutional rights.
Why it matters
This decision sets a significant legal precedent regarding the limits of constitutional protections for basic public health and government transparency.
This story originally appeared on Mother Jones and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The lawsuit, first filed in 2022, says the contamination violated Jacksonians’ constitutional right to bodily integrity. Donald Trump–appointed judge Kurt Engelhardt disagreed. “The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Engelhardt said. “Defendants’ actions allegedly deprived Plaintiffs of clean water and guileless information. These deprivations, while grievous, do not infringe upon any deeply rooted constitutional right.”
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