JUDGE STOPS DRUG TESTS FOR WELFARE

She Says State Policy Likely Unconstitutional

The state stopped requiring drug tests for new welfare applicants in
west Detroit and two other parts of Michigan on Wednesday, on orders
from a federal judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts said the state's
drug-testing policy, which started last month, is "likely
unconstitutional" and granted a restraining order that temporarily
prohibits the state from continuing to use it.

"While it is clearly in the public interest to have all members of
society drug-free and working in gainful employment, these goals
cannot be pursued at the expense of the Constitution," said Roberts.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued that mandatory drug-testing
violates the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable searches
and seizures.

Ann Marie Sims, who oversees the drug-testing program for the Family
Independence Agency, said she remained optimistic that the program
will be upheld in future rulings. "We are very disappointed that a
program which could have helped families" was stopped, she said.

A hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for
Dec. 14.

In 1996, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed a law
giving states freedom to experiment with ways to get people off
welfare and into work. Included in the law is permission to test
welfare recipients for drug use.

Michigan is believed to be the only state in the country that tests
applicants for drugs.

State officials said the program's goal is to prepare people for work
and help keep families together.

The state began the program Oct. 1 in three areas --
Alpena/

Presque Isle and Berrien counties plus a section of west Detroit. The
state plans to slightly expand the program next year and use it
statewide by 2003.

In late September, the ACLU of Michigan filed a lawsuit challenging
the FIA's plan. So far, the group has at least one plaintiff, Terri
Konieczny, a welfare applicant in Alpena. The ACLU has filed a request
to make the case a class action.

Robert Sedler, a professor at Wayne State University's law school,
argued for the ACLU on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He
said drug testing is permitted when a person has a job where drug use
could put the public in danger and when there is a suspicion of a drug
problem.

Michigan's policy, he said, does not meet either standard.

"The fact that someone receives FIA assistance does not mean they
...do not have privacy rights," he said.

About 8 percent of test results the state has back are positive. As
part of its program, the state will provide free drug treatment,
despite the judge's ruling, Sims said.

The state does not report drug use to the police, and those who test
positive do not lose their benefits unless they refuse to participate
in drug treatment.

Assistant Attorney General Morris Klau, who defended the FIA's policy,
said that requiring welfare applicants to take a drug test is similar
to an employer requiring drug tests for new employees.

"It is no more obtrusive than doing what so many of us, including
state employees, have to do, and that is submit to a urine test," he
argued.

But Roberts disagreed, saying that because the FIA is the government,
it is not the same as a private employer. When an employer requires
drug tests, a worker who disagrees with the policy could look for work
elsewhere. Welfare recipients don't have that choice.