A federal appeals court recently ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee Americans the right to clean and safe drinking water. The decision came in a case involving Jackson, Mississippi, a city with a population that is more than 80% Black and a poverty rate more than double the national average. Jackson has faced a long-standing water crisis, marked by lead contamination and frequent service disruptions. The ruling upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by residents who accused city officials of allowing unsafe water to reach their homes and misleading them about its safety. The plaintiffs argued that the city's actions violated their constitutional right to bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment and their right to make informed decisions about their health. However, Judge Kurt Engelhardt of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that while access to safe water is important, it is not a right “deeply rooted in our Nation’s history and tradition,” which is the standard the court uses to determine if a right is protected by the Constitution. Judge Catharina Haynes partially dissented, stating that residents had plausibly shown that Jackson violated their right to bodily integrity by knowingly putting them in danger. Critics of the ruling argue that Black residents, who are disproportionately affected by unsafe water systems, may have fewer legal avenues to seek remedies through the Constitution. The lawsuit also claimed that state authorities violated civil rights laws by directing federal funding for drinking water safety to white communities instead of Jackson. The plaintiffs sought financial compensation and changes in how the city manages and communicates about its water system. The water crisis in Jackson has existed for decades, with residents reporting contaminated water for generations. Some individuals, like Brooke Floyd, have seen the issue affect their families for years, while others, like Gwendolyn Reed-Davis, have had to travel long distances to wash clothes and bathe due to the unsafe water. The failures in Jackson’s water system stem from years of deferred maintenance, aging infrastructure, staffing shortages, and a shrinking revenue base that has made it difficult to keep up with necessary repairs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned in 2020 that the conditions in Jackson posed an “imminent and substantial endangerment” to residents. In 2021, severe winter weather caused equipment to freeze and water lines to rupture, leaving tens of thousands without running water for weeks. Another emergency was triggered in 2022 by flooding and failures at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, leading to federal intervention and the appointment of a third-party manager to rebuild the system. As the city works to improve its water system, residents are being asked to help finance the upgrades. JXN Water, the federally appointed manager overseeing the city’s water and sewer system, has reported improved operations and increased revenue, but the system remains under federal oversight. A court-approved rate increase has raised average residential water-and-sewer bills by about $8.88 per month. Further increases are planned in the coming years. Danyelle Holmes, with Mississippi’s Poor People’s Campaign, said the ruling shows that the law recognizes the suffering of Jackson’s residents but does not offer a legal remedy. “We are organizing, we are marching to the polls, and we are not waiting on a court to tell us our lives are worth clean water,” she said.