Florida welfare drug test law blocked

A federal judge has temporarily blocked Florida’s new law requiring drug tests for welfare recipients until a class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law is resolved, the Orlando Sentinal reports.

The new law, promised by Gov. Rick Scott when he ran for office, requires Florida welfare applicants to pay for a drug test in order to qualify for benefits and then to take additional drug tests periodically to remain eligible, Reuters reports. Floridians who test positive for drugs can’t receive benefits for a year. Recipients who fail two tests are cut off for three years.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has filed a suit against the law on behalf of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old Navy veteran, father and University of Central Florida student who refused to take a drug test when he applied for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families this summer, the Orlando Sentinal reports. Lebron, who claims he has never used illegal drugs, said the drug-testing requirement violated his civil rights.

United States District Judge Mary S. Scriven argued that the state hasn't demonstrated a substantial, special need to justify the "wholesale, suspicionless drug testifying of all applicants" for welfare benefits, the Orlando Sentinal reports. She noted a 1999 study of welfare applicants' drug use that found applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program weren't any more likely to use drugs than non-applicants.

According to The Associated Press:

The judge said there was a good chance plaintiff Luis Lebron would succeed in his challenge to the law based on the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches. The drug test can reveal a host of private medical facts about the individual, Scriven wrote, adding that she found it "troubling" that the drug tests are not kept confidential like medical records.

"I'm delighted for our client and delighted to have confirmation that all of us remain protected from unreasonable, suspicionless government searches and seizures," ACLU's lead attorney, Maria Kayanan said in a prepared news statement, the Orlando Sentinal reports.

"Drug testing welfare recipients is just a common-sense way to ensure that welfare dollars are used to help children and get parents back to work," Jackie Schutz, a spokeswoman for Scott, told the AP. "The governor obviously disagrees with the decision and he will evaluate his options regarding when to appeal."