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.