FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN WELFARE DRUG-TEST PROGRAM

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- A federal appeals court Wednesday struck down
Michigan's program to test welfare recipients for drug use.

The decision by a 12-member panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
reverses an October ruling by a three-judge panel from the same court.

Michigan was the first state to pass such a program, and many other states
have been watching the case progress.

Officials for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the
class-action lawsuit in 1999 on behalf of all Michigan welfare recipients,
said upholding the program could have set a dangerous precedent.

Drug testing could carry over to other state programs, such as applications
for driver's licenses, said ACLU lawyer Graham Boyd.

"The same argument could be tied to everything," Boyd said. "That logic has
no stopping point."

Maureen Sorbet, a spokeswoman for the state Family Independence Agency,
said state officials will review the decision and decide whether to appeal.

Michigan's drug-testing program began in 1999, but was halted five weeks
later when U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts said it likely
violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and
seizure.

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Roberts' decision in
October, saying the program is based on a legitimate need to protect the
children of welfare recipients and the public.

Michigan wanted to require some welfare applicants to undergo drug
screening before being considered for benefits. Under the rules of the
pilot program, the results wouldn't affect access to food stamps and police
wouldn't be notified, but applicants who tested positive could gradually
lose benefits if they failed to undergo treatment.

In the five weeks Michigan's program was operating in 1999, 268 welfare
recipients were tested. Twenty-one tested positive, according to the ACLU
of Michigan.

According to the Welfare Information Network, a Washington, D.C.-based
clearinghouse, states that have some form of drug-testing for welfare
recipients include Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada,
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon.