JUDGE EXTENDS HALT TO DRUG TESTING

A temporary restraining order directing the state to stop requiring drug
testing for welfare recipients from Berrien County and a handful of other
communities has been extended, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

In handing down the decision, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said
that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim.

A group of welfare recipients and the American Civil Liberties Union of
Michigan last year asked Roberts to issue a temporary restraining order on
the grounds the testing is unconstitutional. Roberts granted the original
order last November.

The ACLU has said the effort is an "unreasonable search" in violation of
the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The drug testing is part of a pilot program that requires most welfare
applicants in Berrien, Alpena and Presque Isle counties and a portion of
Wayne County to provide urine samples before they can be considered for
benefits. The program was expected to eventually be expanded statewide and
include testing of parts of the general welfare population.

In the initial testing done under the pilot project, 8 percent of welfare
applicants in the program tested positive for drugs, primarily marijuana,
according to the Family Independence Agency, which administers welfare in
Michigan.

The initiative does not apply to Medicaid, disability, emergency or other
state assistance programs.

No one who screens positive for drugs would be denied food stamps or
assistance checks, and police wouldn't be notified. But offenders who don't
go to state-ordered treatment risk the gradual loss of benefits.

On Tuesday, Roberts said "drug testing under these circumstances must
satisfy a special need, and that need must concern public safety. In this
instance, there is no indication of a concrete danger to public safety
which demands departure from the Fourth Amendment's main rule and normal
requirement of individualized suspicion."

Karen Smith, spokeswoman for the state Family Independence Agency, said the
department plans to give the decision a careful review.

"We're not surprised. In some of the judge's earlier comments, she made it
clear that this was the direction she was heading in," Smith said. "We
believe it is still an important idea that addresses real barriers for our
clients. We are disappointed but not surprised."

Smith said the department will make a decision in the next two days about
how to proceed.

Kary Moss, executive director of the Michigan ACLU, said she was pleased
with the ruling.

"We had belief from the beginning that this law is unconstitutional. It
basically says that poor people have less constitutional rights than
wealthy people," Moss said. "We are heartened that the court agreed with
us."

The Associated Press and Tribune staff contributed to this report.