Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients Ruled Unconstitutional

On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court issued a ruling that drug screening of welfare recipients was unconstitutional.

The ruling comes as a loss to Gov. Rick Scott, who promised to enact drug tests during his 2010 campaign for governor. In 2011, Scott signed a law to drug test recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, but the court issued a preliminary injunction a few months after.

According to the Miami Herald, 2.6 percent tested positive for drugs, the most common being marijuana.The state argued, however, that it warranted an exception to the Fourth Amendment to ensure TANF participants job readiness, to ensure that public funds are properly used andto meet child-welfare goals.

Ultimately, the court agreed with the 11th Circuits conclusion that There is nothing so special or immediate about the governments interest in ensuring that TANF recipients are drug free so as to warrant suspension of the Fourth Amendment. The only known and shared characteristic of the individuals who would be subjected to Floridas mandatory drug testing program is that they are financially needy families with children. Yet, there is nothing inherent in the condition of being impoverished that supports the conclusion that there is a concrete danger that impoverished individuals are prone to drug use or that should drug use occur, that the lives of TANF recipients are fraught with such risks of injury to others that even a momentary lapse of attention can have disastrous consequences."