Drug tests welfare: Florida law now requires drug tests for welfare applicants - OrlandoSentinel.com
I didn't want to start a new Thread since this goes along with this one.
"A new state law requiring all welfare applicants to be drug-tested goes into effect today — even as opponents say the statute is riddled with problems and will not withstand a legal challenge.
It also could end up creating an expensive court battle for the Department of Children and Families — the state agency charged with administering the federally funded welfare program — in a year when the department already has made nearly $50 million in cutbacks
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the nonprofit organization considered most likely to challenge the law, has not yet filed suit on the issue, nor will the organization reveal its plan.
"We as a policy don't commit to sue until we actually file," said Derek Newton, the group's communications director.
But the ACLU's written position on such screening is that it's "scientifically, fiscally and constitutionally unsound."
The constitutional standard, Newton said, requires that the government have reason to believe an individual is using drugs before demanding a test. Michigan, the only other state to pass a similar law, had it struck down in court.
In September 2000, a federal judge blocked Michigan's attempt to drug-test welfare recipients, ruling that the law set a "dangerous precedent" under the Constitution. Three years earlier, Louisiana had scrapped a similar requirement, part of an executive order, when threatened with a lawsuit.
And certain counties in Oregon have experimented with drug-testing welfare recipients, but they retreated when officials found cheaper and less invasive ways to ferret out drug users.
Before the Michigan policy was halted, only 10 percent of welfare recipients tested positive for illicit drugs — a rate similar to that found among the general population, according to the ACLU.
About 4,000 Floridians each month may be affected by the new law, which applies only to parents with minor children who request temporary cash assistance. The average cash assistance per family is $240 a month with a lifetime limit of 48 months.
The 93,000 state residents already receiving such benefits would not be affected unless they reapply. Applicants for food stamps, Medicaid and other programs also would not be affected."
THat is only the first half of the article. The rest you can find on the link I provided. It makes for an interesting read.
