Pubdate: Wed, 20 Mar 2002
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2002 The Hartford Courant
Contact:  http://www.ctnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: John A. MacDonald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SHOW AND TELL ON SCHOOL DRUG TESTING

Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Non-Athletic Activities Case

WASHINGTON -- Lindsay Earls was in her sophomore choir class at 
Tecumseh High School in rural Oklahoma when a principal's assistant 
burst into the room and called out her name and the names of several 
other students. Report for drug testing, the assistant told the 
students.

In a restroom, the girls were told to give urine samples in cups 
while female teachers stood outside the stalls checking for any 
cheating. When the girls finished, a faculty member examined each cup 
to be sure the liquid was the right color and temperature.

Earls felt humiliated, and within a few months she and another 
student and their parents filed a lawsuit to block the school's 
policy of randomly testing students who participate in non-athletic 
extracurricular activities. The students said the drug tests violated 
their Fourth Amendment rights against unwarranted searches.

The case reached the Supreme Court Tuesday after lower courts 
returned contradictory opinions about the Tecumseh policy. Justices 
aggressively probed the arguments of opposing lawyers, but several 
appeared to be on the side of the school board.

If the court rules in favor of the school's policy, schools will be 
free to expand drug testing for students participating not just in 
athletics but in non-athletic activities as well. The high court 
allowed drug tests for student athletes in 1995. Wider testing is 
relatively rare nationwide and is not being done in Connecticut, 
state education officials said. Still, legal analysts said some 
districts have been holding back because they were unsure how the 
Supreme Court would rule.

Linda M. Meoli, an Oklahoma City lawyer representing the board of 
education in Tecumseh, said she is not using the case to argue for 
universal student drug testing. But, she added, "If we could fashion 
a way to do it, I believe a majority of school boards would be behind 
it."

Earls' lawyer, Graham A. Boyd, from the New Haven-based Drug Policy 
Litigation Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that 
Tecumseh officials had not proved there was danger of a rampant drug 
problem at the school. Justice Antonin Scalia brushed that argument 
aside, saying: "The danger is getting young people used to a drug 
culture."

Several other justices indicated that the goal of reducing drug use 
in the schools could outweigh any loss of privacy students experience 
by being required to submit to the tests.

If schools believe they are drug-free, they are entitled to keep it 
that way, said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. And Justice Stephen G. 
Breyer said the Tecumseh policy amounts to only a "slight expansion" 
of the drug testing the court allowed in the 7-year-old decision 
involving student athletes.

Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were the most 
outspoken in challenging the Tecumseh policy.

After hearing Meoli contend that the tests deter students from using 
drugs, Souter said: "It seems to me if we took your argument ... 
there is an equally good argument for testing everyone in the school."

And Ginsburg dismissed an argument that most students already are 
aware of - and thus not offended by - current drug testing. "People 
who are just ordinary people aren't," Ginsburg protested.

The Tecumseh case began in 1998, when the school board responded to 
persistent local concerns about drug abuse. Initially, the board 
planned to test only athletes but expanded the testing so athletes 
would not feel singled out.

Earls, described as a serious student who rarely if ever dated, was 
tested in early 1999, a few months after the policy went into effect. 
The test showed she had not used drugs. Eight months later she and 
another student, Daniel James, and their parents approached the 
American Civil Liberties Union, which took up the case. A federal 
district court agreed with the board of education; the U.S. 10th 
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 for Earls.

While Earls had the option of dropping out of the extracurricular 
activities to avoid testing, Boyd argued in court papers that she 
needed to participate to improve her chances of getting into college. 
She is now a freshman at Dartmouth College. In any case, Boyd said, 
there is no evidence of drug use among students who participate in 
extracurricular activities.

Outside the Supreme Court Tuesday, Earls said: "I was pleased with 
everything I heard. I'm not doing drugs, so I shouldn't have to prove 
I'm innocent."
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MAP posted-by: Josh