Washington State Supreme Court Rules Random Student Drug Searches Violate State’s Constitution In a decision that could have implications in other states despite U.S. Supreme Court rulings to the contrary, the Washington State Supreme Court has held that random drug testing of students violated their right to privacy and that state's constitution. The federal cases do not control how Washington interprets its state constitution, wrote Justice Richard Sanders for the majority. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two occasions that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not bar random testing of students because of "special needs," the necessity for school districts to fight drug use. The Washington court said that state’s constitution makes no provision for special needs and gives greater emphasis to the right to privacy. Parents of three students, Abraham and Aaron York and Tristan Schneider, at Wahkiakum School District on the banks of the Columbia River in southwestern Washington, sued the school distract after their children were subjected to testing, alleging that the tests violated Article 1, Section 7 of the state constitution. The parents lost in Superior Court and the state Supreme Court took the case directly. Article 1, Section 7 reads: "No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law." Drug problem According to the court, the county (with a population of only 3,800) has an acknowledged drug issue and has been battling it in the schools since 1994. Students themselves listed teen drug abuse as the number one problem in the county. According to a community survey in 1998, 40 percent of sophomores reported having used illegal drugs, 19 percent of them within the previous 30 days. As a result, the school district implemented random drug testing for athletes. Any student involved in school sports had to agree to produce a urine sample. If they test positive, students are suspended from extracurricular activities and provided counseling. Results are kept private. The York and Schneider teens agreed to testing but their parents, assisted by the Washington American Civil Liberties Union sued, claiming that mandatory tests violated student privacy. Among other things, the parents claimed, the tests would reveal what medications the children were taking. Right to privacy Sanders, in his opinion, said the court was aware of the complex issues but limited its review to the tests’ constitutionality. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled twice that such testing did not violate the U.S. Constitution, the wording of the Washington state and U.S. constitutions differs, with the Washington constitution specifically mentioning privacy as a right to be protected. Many states have similar wording. "It is well established," Sanders wrote, "that in some areas, Article 1, Section 7 provides greater protection to persons under the Washington Constitution than the U.S. Constitution…." The unanimous decision said the ruling does not prohibit drug testing with cause. "We require a warrant except for rare occasions, which we jealously and narrowly guard. We decline to adopt a doctrine similar to the federal special needs exception in the context of randomly drug testing student athletes. In sum, no argument has been presented that would bring the random drug testing within any reasonable interpretation of the constitutionally required 'authority of law.' " The nine-member court split on whether random, suspicion-less drug testing was constitutional under "carefully defined circumstances." In a statement to the Seattle Times, Doug Honig of the state's ACLU said "the justices concluded, as we had contended, that it violates the state Constitution to require a student to give their urine without any reason to believe they've done anything wrong." The school district has not made a statement. The ruling may be found at www.courts.wa.govopinionsindex.cfmfa=opinions.showOpinion&filename=789461MAJ. See also: E-Journal – July 2002 (Vol. 3, No. 5) Excerpts from Supreme Court Ruling on School Drug Tests http://www.healthinschools.org/News-Room/EJournals/Volume-9/Number-1/Should- Schools-Test-for-Drugs-of-Abuse.aspx.
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