SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SAYS DRUG TESTING HELPS CHILDREN SAY NO

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told students Friday
that school drug testing is a reasonable way to stop children from
experimenting with narcotics.

Breyer explained his deciding vote in a case last June that gave school
leaders nationwide a free hand to randomly test students who participate in
competitive after-school activities or teams.

The court ruled 5-4 that schools' interest in ridding their campuses of
drugs outweighs students' right to privacy.

A student at Bell Multicultural Sr. High School in Washington asked the
justice what he thought about students who don't want to be forced to take
drug tests.

"There are a lot of people who are under pressure from their peers to try
the drugs. Sometimes that's hard to resist," said Breyer, a father of three.

He said drug testing for participation in extracurricular activities helps
people who don't want to use drugs. A student "can say to his friends 'Well
I want to go out for sports next year, well I want to join the debate team,
well I want to be on the newspaper, so you see I can't."'

Breyer, who frequently votes with the court liberals, joined conservatives
in the drug testing case from Oklahoma. The other justices who supported
the challenged policy were Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices
Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.

"That was a reasonable thing for the school system to try," Breyer said.
"I've seen enough people really ruined by this stuff that I can easily
understand how the schools would want to try something like that."

The ruling did not authorize random tests for any student, but justices
could deal with that issue later.

Breyer was fielding questions as part of an educational series televised by
C-SPAN. He also talked about threats to civil liberties in the government's
war on terrorism. He told students that everyone should be involved in
making sure constitutional rights are not eroded.

"You are part of this democratic process," he said.

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On the Net:

C-SPAN: http://www.studentsandleaders.org/video/justice-breyer.asp