US PA: Pa. Court Allows Lawsuit Against School Drug Tests:UPDATE!

[ReformMaryJaneLaws]

US PA: Pa. Court Allows Lawsuit Against School Drug Tests




URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n1835.a07.html
Newshawk: Kirk Muse
Pubdate: Tue, 25 Nov 2003
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2003 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Mark Scolforo, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)


PA. COURT ALLOWS LAWSUIT AGAINST SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

HARRISBURG - A desire to discourage drug use among students is not a sufficient reason to justify "suspicionless" drug screening targeted at student-athletes, parking-permit holders, and participants in extracurricular activities, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The justices on Thursday turned down the Delaware Valley School District's attempt to have a lawsuit in Pike County dismissed, meaning a legal challenge seeking to block the testing can proceed. The challenge was filed by two sisters, who had passed the drug screening and have since graduated, and their parents.

The family's lawyer said the ruling provides Pennsylvania students with privacy rights beyond the limits of a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld random testing of participants in an Oklahoma school district's extracurricular activities.

"What the Pennsylvania court did is [it] said, 'Well, the Pennsylvania Constitution does recognize the privacy right.' That is, it affords the students [a] broader right of privacy than the U.S. Supreme Court held," said the lawyer, Robert N. Isseks.

In July, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld Hunterdon Central Regional High School's policy, which subjects students involved in extracurricular activities or who park vehicles on school property to random drug testing. The court ruled that students in public schools have diminished rights to privacy under the state constitution, and that the school's policy was not unreasonable or unfair.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's majority opinion said the Delaware Valley School District had failed to produce sufficient proof that its students have a drug problem, had not shown that the targeted students contributed to any drug problem, and had not described how the policy addressed whatever problem might exist.

The court attacked the northeastern Pennsylvania district's testing of student leaders as a means of setting an example for the student body.

"The theory apparently is that, even in the absence of any suspicion of drug or alcohol abuse, it is appropriate to single these students out and say, in effect: 'Choose one: your Pennsylvania constitutional right to privacy or the chess club,' " Justice Ronald D. Castille wrote in a 32-page opinion.

A concurring opinion signed by three justices said they were sending the case back "for further factual development, without specifically requiring that the school district proffer evidence of a heightened risk among the [drug-tested] students as compared to the student population as a whole."

The sisters, Kimberly and Jennifer Theodore, were tested because Jennifer belonged to the National Honor Society and academic clubs and Kimberly played several sports and sought a parking permit.



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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake

[ReformMaryJaneLaws]

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Finds Random Student Drug Testing Unconstitutional
December 11, 2003


On November 20, 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the random, suspicionless drug testing of Delaware Valley School District students participating in extracurricular activities or applying for parking permits. In Theodore v. Delaware Valley School District, the court found that this program violated the privacy protections provided by the Pennsylvania constitution. Justice Ronald D. Castille wrote in the opinion: “The theory apparently is that, even in the absence of any suspicion of drug or alcohol abuse, it is appropriate to single these students out and say, in effect: ‘Choose one: your Pennsylvania constitutional right to privacy or the chess club.’”

In 2002, by a margin of 5 to 4, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted public school districts to drug test students participating in competitive, extracurricular activities, in Pottawatomie v. Earls. In its ruling, however, the court only interpreted federal law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision highlights the fact that schools also most abide by the often greater protections provided by state constitutions. Furthermore, the Theodore v. Delaware Valley School District decision shows that school districts that implement student drug testing policies may spend years and thousands of taxpayer dollars battling these lawsuits with no guarantee of success. In many states, including Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, lawsuits have been filed against school districts for their drug testing policies.

This decision also reaffirms what respectable research and expert opinion agree on: random student drug testing tarnishes the relationships of trust between teachers and students, violates student privacy, may lead students to use more dangerous drugs, does not address the needs of students who have a substance abuse problem, and wastes a school’s scarce financial resources.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/12_11_03penna.cfm