City requests new hearing in lawsuit over lead contamination in water

Jackson, Mississippi is currently requesting a rehearing in a legal case that accuses the city of knowingly exposing its residents to lead-contaminated water. Following a recent ruling by a three-member panel from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned a lower court’s decision to dismiss the case, the city is now seeking a rehearing before the entire court. The city argues that the panel’s ruling contradicts established court precedents by allowing the lawsuit to proceed under the “state-created danger doctrine.” This legal principle holds the state responsible when it either creates or worsens a hazardous situation.

The implications of this decision are significant, not only for Jackson but for thousands of other state and local governments that provide public services across the country. The city highlights that in 2016 alone, over 5,300 municipalities were found to be in violation of lead-testing regulations, potentially exposing over 18 million Americans to legal liability for alleged constitutional breaches. At the core of the controversy is a class action lawsuit filed in 2022 by four plaintiffs who claim that the city was aware of the risks associated with the acidity of its water supply leading to lead contamination but took no action to address the issue.

In 2024, Judge Kristi Johnson dismissed the claims against the individual city officials named in the lawsuit on the grounds of qualified immunity. However, she ultimately dismissed the entire case later that month when the plaintiffs failed to provide necessary information regarding the federal court’s jurisdiction over the matter. While the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of claims against the specific city officials, they overturned the decision to throw out the case entirely. They ruled that the case could proceed under the Due Process Clause and sent it back to the district court to determine if the plaintiffs’ allegations could also support a state-created danger claim.

Despite this ruling, Jackson argues that the decision by the Fifth Circuit conflicts with previous cases where similar claims were rejected. The city points out that the state-created danger doctrine is understood differently across various circuits and has not been uniformly adopted by the U.S. legal system. Different circuits have different criteria for establishing a state-created danger claim, leading to inconsistencies and unpredictability in its application. Jackson suggests that rather than a panel’s decision, the complete court should address the full adoption or rejection of the doctrine to provide clarity moving forward.

The lawsuit revolves around the city’s knowledge, dating back to 2011, that its water system was at high risk for lead contamination due to issues with the lime treatment pump at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant. Despite attempts to address the problem by the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba in 2013, his successor, Mayor Tony Yarber, discontinued the efforts and transitioned parts of the city to surface water instead of well water. This switch led to increased corrosion in older lead pipes in residents’ homes, resulting in lead levels exceeding legal limits in 22 households. The city’s latest filing requests a full rehearing to address the complex legal implications of the case and provide further clarification on the state-created danger claim.