Pubdate: Sat, 27 Apr 2002
Source: Daily Advertiser, The (LA)
Copyright: 2002 South Louisiana Publishing
Contact:  http://www.theadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1670
Author: Richard Burgess
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

LAWSUIT SAYS DRUG-TESTING POLICY VIOLATES CONSTITUTION

LAFAYETTE - A class action lawsuit has been filed against Morgan 
City, alleging that a policy that requires people arrested there to 
submit to drug test as a condition of bail is unconstitutional.

State law allows the mandatory drug testing in some circumstances, 
and the policy is practiced in St. Mary, St. Martin and Iberia 
parishes by order of 16th Judicial District Court judges, according 
to the Morgan City Police Department.

"On its face, it just doesn't seem right," Baton Rouge attorney 
Barrington Neil said Friday.

Neil filed the lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michael Lemoine, 29, a 
former Morgan City resident who recently moved to Lafayette. The 
attorney hopes to have a judge certify the case as a class action, 
meaning anyone who has been in a similar situation could join as a 
plaintiff.

Morgan City police arrested Lemoine on May 2, 2001, on an OWI charge. 
The charge has been dismissed.

According to the lawsuit, Lemoine was told he had to take a urine 
drug test - and pay $10 for it - if he wanted to be released on the 
preset bail amount for the charge.

If Lemoine refused the test, the lawsuit states, he would have had to 
wait for one of the semi-weekly bail hearings before a judge.

Lemoine took the test, and the results were negative, Neil said.

The lawsuit seeks damages for violations of Lemoine's right against 
self-incrimination and rights to equal protection under the law and 
due process. It also asks the drug-testing policy be declared 
unconstitutional.

Judges have defended the policy, which is also used in Orleans 
Parish. They say it helps identify people coming into the criminal 
justice system who might need drug treatment. The drug test cannot be 
used as evidence against someone in a criminal trial.

Judge Jules Edwards III of the 15th Judicial District, which includes 
Lafayette Parish, said he is aware of no constitutional challenges to 
the practice or the state law that allows it.

Edwards said Lafayette Parish does not drug test as a condition of 
bail, but the judge said he thinks it is a good idea.

Richard Spears, a New Iberia attorney who does criminal defense work, 
said he has always had questions about the 16th Judicial District's 
drug-testing policy.

"I think there are all sorts of problems with drug-testing everybody 
that comes in," he said. "I believe that's a viable suit. I've even 
thought about filing one myself."

Spears said he sees a particular problem with forcing people to pay 
for the drug tests but then not returning the money if someone is 
found innocent or if the charges are dismissed.
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