ACLU PLANS LEGAL CHALLENGE OF FINANCIAL AID PROVISION

SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- A South Dakota student is among the plaintiffs in
a lawsuit planned by the American Civil Liberties Union that
challenges a provision of federal law that denies financial aid to
convicted drug offenders.

In its class-action lawsuit, the ACLU says the provision is
unconstitutional because it punishes people twice for the same crime
and creates a class of people deemed unworthy of receiving federal
financial aid for college without a good reason.

"While any non-drug offender, from a murderer to a shoplifter, can
receive financial aid, an individual who is caught with any amount of
a controlled substance, including a small amount of marijuana, is
automatically denied aid by the federal government," the complaint states.

The lawsuit was to be filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in
Aberdeen, said Adam Wolf, a lawyer for the ACLU.

About 200,000 people nationwide have been denied financial aid since
the provision went into effect in 2000, said Wolf.

"We hope to restore the eligibility for student aid to people who are
being unfairly and irrationally denied it," he said.

The complaint lists Margaret Spellings, secretary of the U.S.
Department of Education, as the defendant. A spokeswoman said the
department could not comment on pending litigation.

Kraig Selken, a history major at Northern State University in
Aberdeen, is one of three plaintiffs. The organization Students for
Sensible Drug Policy Foundation is also listed.

Selken said he pleaded guilty in 2005 to a misdemeanor marijuana
possession charge and completed his sentence.