March 19, 2002 Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Student Drug Tests By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 1:06 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A rural Oklahoma school district took a sensible approach to stemming what it saw as the general problem of drug use among students when it required drug testing before students could participate in after-school activities, the school lawyer argued to the Supreme Court Tuesday.
Several justices seemed ready to agree with the school that the random drug tests are constitutional even though the school had reported no widespread drug problem in the past and there was no reason to suspect the students in band or 4-H of using drugs.
``You think life and death is not at issue in the fight against drugs?'' Justice Antonin Scalia barked at an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer challenging the tests.
Justice Stephen Breyer suggested the policy was a reasonable response to dangerous drug use among young people nationwide, and in keeping with the court's landmark 1995 ruling that schools could test athletes for drugs.
The Tecumseh, Okla., school ``did what I would have done,'' Breyer said. ``I would have asked my kids what's really going on in the school.''
The court's ruling, expected by summer, should fill in a major question left from the 1995 ruling: whether the factors that made drug testing acceptable for athletes apply to other after-school activities, or even students at large.
Wider drug testing remains relatively rare among the nation's 15,500 public school districts. Lower courts have reached differing conclusions about the practice.
Former student Lindsey Earls and others backed by the ACLU claim that such ``suspicionless'' drug tests violate the Constitution's guarantee against unreasonable searches or seizures.
The National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws are among the other organizations supporting the students. The libertarian Cato Institute and the conservative Rutherford Institute are also on board.
Tecumseh school administrators claim the random tests were a deterrent. If students wanted to represent the school in extracurricular activities, they might think twice about using drugs, the school argued.
The Bush administration and a long list of organizations, including the Drug-Free Schools Coalition and the National School Boards Association, are backing the school system.
Solicitor General Theodore Olson, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, pointed to a 2000 government survey in which 54 percent of high school seniors reported some illegal drug use in their lifetime. Nearly 25 percent said they had used drugs within the last month.
``School children are not only more vulnerable to drug use than adults, but such abuse is much more likely to devastate their lives,'' Olson wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief.
A federal court initially rejected Earls' suit, but a federal appeals court ruled the other way last year.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the school argued that the lower court drew the wrong conclusions from the 1995 athlete case, and that its ruling conflicts with other appeals courts around the country.
The Tecumseh testing program ran for part of two school years. It was suspended after Earls sued.
Only children involved in competitive extracurricular activities were tested on the theory that by voluntarily representing the school, they had opened themselves to greater scrutiny than other students.
The policy covered a range of voluntary clubs and sports, including the Future Farmers of America club, cheerleading and football. Students were tested at the beginning of the school year. Thereafter, tests were random.
Overall, 505 high school students were tested for drug use. Three students, all of them athletes, tested positive, Earls' lawyer said. Two of the athletes also participated in other extracurricular activities.
The school offered drug counseling after a positive test, and those who complied could remain on their teams. Those who refused were barred from competition.
The case is Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, 01-332.
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On the Net:
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov
Appeals court ruling: http://www.uscourts.gov/links.html and click on 10th Circuit.
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