LOS ANGELES TIMES: Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s attempt to force drug testing on state workers has been blocked by a federal judge, the latest development in a case seen as a bellwether for similar efforts involving employees and those receiving social service or welfare benefits.
On Thursday, Federal District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled that Scott’s executive order violated constitutional guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure because it “does not identify a concrete danger that must be addressed by suspicionless drug testing.” The Miami-based judge also wrote that the order should be struck down because “the governor shows no evidence of a drug-use problem at the covered agencies.” …
“We’ve seen a rash of these invasive laws or policies where the government wants to search bodily fluids without reason,” ACLU spokesman Baylor Johnson said by telephone from Florida. In addition to testing employees and welfare assistance, some states have proposed testing those who receive food stamps or unemployment insurance, he said…. (more)
