SUPREME COURT RESTRICTS DRUG TESTING OF STUDENTS

Mandatory Testing In Schools, Once A Next Step In The Drug War, Is A Fading
Option

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, limiting the drug testing of
students, refused Monday to allow a school district to test all those
who violate its disciplinary rules. While individuals who appear to be
under the influence of drugs can be tested at school, officials may
not routinely test groups of students, under the ruling that the high
court let stand.

The Constitution's Fourth Amendment protects students, as well as
adults, from unreasonable searches by public officials, the ruling
stressed.

"This decision says that just because you are a student, you don't
lose all your rights to privacy," said Kenneth Falk, a lawyer for the
Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Falk represented a freshman student who
successfully challenged the school drug-testing policy in Anderson,
Ind.

Mandatory drug testing in schools, once considered a likely next step
in the war on drugs, now appears to be fading as an option, experts
say, a victim of privacy concerns, high costs and adverse court rulings.

Most large urban school districts have not adopted widespread or
routine drug testing.

At roughly $50 per student, such testing is expensive for a large
system, officials say.

Instead, the lead cases in school drug testing have come from small
towns in Oregon, Indiana and Colorado.

"They have the feeling they don't want to become like New York,
Chicago or Los Angeles. In these (small town) communities, there is
minimal opposition" to mandatory drug testing, Falk said.

Four years ago, the Supreme Court opened the door to routine testing
at schools when it upheld a urine-testing program for school athletes
in rural Vernonia, Ore.

Because students playing sports while under the influence of drugs
could be injured, it is reasonable to force them to undergo regular
urine testing, the high court concluded.

A year later, a school district in Rushville, Ind., adopted regular
testing for all students who participated in extracurricular
activities. Several Texas school districts, including Bastrop, have
drug testing of athletes and others involved in extracurricular activities.

Since then, however, the trend toward more testing has been halted. In
Colorado, the state Supreme Court recently struck down a drug-testing
policy that included members of the marching band. No court has
condoned the testing of all students, and several courts have struck
down policies that target students who have violated certain
disciplinary rules.

Meanwhile, the court also:

* Agreed to decide whether Hawaii can bar white people from voting to
elect the trustees who oversee a fund for the benefit of native
Hawaiians. The court will hear the appeal of Harold Rice, a rancher
who says the rule is unconstitutional race discrim- ination.

Let stand a $1.9 million verdict by a Seattle jury against an
anti-cult group whose members were accused of helping to abduct an
18-year-old from a church to deprogram him.

The group said it should not be held liable because it referred the
teen- ager's mother to a deprogrammer.

* Upheld an Ohio law that required state university professors to
spend more time in the classroom.