STUDENT GROUP SUES OVER FEDERAL DRUG LAW

Students Say Law That Withholds Financial Aid From Drug Offenders Is
Double Jeopardy

Student advocacy and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday
in South Dakota challenging a federal law that blocks financial aid
from going to college students with drug convictions.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the American Civil Liberties
Union said the law has kept nearly 200,000 students from receiving
federal aid since enforcement began in 2000.

Under the law, admission of a drug violation on a student financial
aid form - including misdemeanors and felonies - can be grounds for
withdrawal of federal aid. The law will be scaled back in July.
Prior convictions will be ignored, and aid will only be taken away
if the conviction occurs while a student is in college.

"There's still some serious issues that remain unaddressed," said
Tom Angell, campaigns director for the policy group, which says the
law unconstitutionally punishes people twice for the same offense
and violates the equal protection guarantee in the Fifth Amendment.
"Murders, rapists and burglars are eligible" for federal aid, Angell
said. "There's just no rational basis for it."

It's unknown how many students have been affected locally. Henry
Urick, an assistant director of the Office of Student Financial
Services at the University of Texas said he knows of only one or two
students whose aid was taken away as a result of the law. Austin
Community College officials said three applications were returned to
students this school year and 13 were sent back in 2005-06. The
applications are returned to see if the student answered the
question inaccurately or have since attended a drug rehabilitation
program, in which case they would still be eligible.

One reason so few students are affected - UT campus police did make
163 drug arrests between 2002 and 2004 - may be due to the fact that
it's up to a student to report the offense. Nothing in the law
requires criminal history checks as part of processing aid
applications. However, a U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman
said schools are required to report any offenses they're aware of.
"Only the honest students are being punished," Angell said, adding
that he suspects many students don't apply because they know have a
conviction.

Tony McDonald, chair of the UT Chapter of the Young Conservatives of
Texas, said the penalties, which range from one year to indefinite
suspension of financial aid, make sense. "Financial aid is a
privilege and you have to earn it," he said. "Using drugs while in
college shows you are not the kind of person taxpayers should trust
making an investment in."