SUPREME COURT HEARS STUDENT DRUG TEST ARGUMENTS

WASHINGTON -- A rural Oklahoma school district took a sensible approach to
stemming what it saw as the general problem of drug use among students when
it required drug testing before students could participate in after-school
activities, the school lawyer argued to the Supreme Court Tuesday. Several
justices seemed ready to agree with the school that the random drug tests
are constitutional even though the school had reported no widespread drug
problem in the past and there was no reason to suspect the students in band
or 4-H of using drugs.

"You think life and death is not at issue in the fight against drugs?"
Justice Antonin Scalia barked at an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer
challenging the tests.

Justice Stephen Breyer suggested the policy was a reasonable response to
dangerous drug use among young people nationwide, and in keeping with the
court's landmark 1995 ruling that schools could test athletes for drugs.

The Tecumseh school "did what I would have done," Breyer said. "I would
have asked my kids what's really going on in the school."

The court's ruling, expected by summer, should fill in a major question
left from the 1995 ruling: whether the factors that made drug testing
acceptable for athletes apply to other after-school activities, or even
students at large.

Wider drug testing remains relatively rare among the nation's 15,500 public
school districts. Lower courts have reached differing conclusions about the
practice.

Former student Lindsey Earls and others backed by the ACLU claim that such
"suspicionless" drug tests violate the Constitution's guarantee against
unreasonable searches or seizures.

The National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws are among the
other organizations supporting the students. The libertarian Cato Institute
and the conservative Rutherford Institute are also on board.

Tecumseh school administrators claim the random tests were a deterrent. If
students wanted to represent the school in extracurricular activities, they
might think twice about using drugs, the school argued. The Bush
administration and a long list of organizations, including the Drug-Free
Schools Coalition and the National School Boards Association, are backing
the school system.

Solicitor General Theodore Olson, the administration's top Supreme Court
lawyer, pointed to a 2000 government survey in which 54 percent of high
school seniors reported some illegal drug use in their lifetime. Nearly 25
percent said they had used drugs within the last month.

"School children are not only more vulnerable to drug use than adults, but
such abuse is much more likely to devastate their lives," Olson wrote in a
friend-of-the-court brief.

A federal court initially rejected Earls' suit, but a federal appeals court
ruled the other way last year.

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the school argued that the lower court
drew the wrong conclusions from the 1995 athlete case, and that its ruling
conflicts with other appeals courts around the country.

The Tecumseh testing program ran for part of two school years. It was
suspended after Earls sued.

Only children involved in competitive extracurricular activities were
tested on the theory that by voluntarily representing the school, they had
opened themselves to greater scrutiny than other students.

The policy covered a range of voluntary clubs and sports, including the
Future Farmers of America club, cheerleading and football. Students were
tested at the beginning of the school year. Thereafter, tests were random.

Overall, 505 high school students were tested for drug use. Three students,
all of them athletes, tested positive, Earls' lawyer said. Two of the
athletes also participated in other extracurricular activities.

The school offered drug counseling after a positive test, and those who
complied could remain on their teams. Those who refused were barred from
competition.