RANDOM DRUG TESTING

Alaska Supreme Court Finds A Rational Balance

The Alaska Supreme Court has brought a modicum of sanity to the war on
drugs, at least here in Alaska.

In a ruling Friday, the court held that the Municipality of Anchorage
cannot force all police and firefighters to undergo random urine tests. The
ruling is an important stand limiting the power of government to snoop into
the bodily functions of Alaska citizens.

As the court noted, Alaska citizens place "strong emphasis on individual
liberty." Random tests, taken without a shred of a reason to suspect the
individual in question, run contrary to that fundamental value. A random
test is essentially a formal "search," the same as one governed by criminal
law, even though the vast majority of people affected are law- abiding
citizens who raise no cause for suspicion.

In this case, the municipality raises a legitimate concern for public
safety. Police or firefighters who abuse drugs or alcohol could jeopardize
their colleagues and the public, and the municipality is right to be
cautious. But the government must pick the least invasive way to do the job.

The court declined to say that a reasonable suspicion is required for every
drug test of people in "heavily regulated, safety sensitive job duties."
When there has been an accident, for example, there is a compelling need to
learn the cause so that future safety can be protected and to place such
employees under close scrutiny afterward.

The court declined to stop Anchorage from demanding urine tests, with no
probable cause for suspicion, when a police or fire employee first applies
for a job or gets promoted, transferred or demoted. The court seemed to
suggest it's reasonable for employees to expect more invasive examination
at those times when their records are already being scrutinized.

This case was decided under the Alaska Constitution, which has stronger
privacy protections than the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has
taken a more tolerant view of testing, even to the point of allowing it as
a condition for public school students to participate in athletics. But the
Alaska court noted "the United States Supreme Court has never approved an
open ended random-testing regime like the one at issue here."

Under either standard, the Municipality of Anchorage went too far with its
attempt to impose random testing on police and fire employees. The Alaska
Supreme Court found a wiser, more restrained standard.