High Court upholds random drug tests for athletes

Jet, July 17, 1995

The United States Supreme Court recently cleared the way for public schools to randomly test student athletes for drugs.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the high court overturned a ruling last year by a federal appeals court which said random testing for students in Vernonia, OR, was unconstitutional.

Lawyers have predicted the ruling may open the door for testing at public colleges and universities as well.

President Clinton said the ruling "sends exactly the right message to parents and students: That drug use will not be tolerated in our schools."

The nation's Drug Czar Lee Brown said the ruling is "a major victory for kids and drug education at a time when drug abuse among the young is rising."

Signing the majority opinion were justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who wrote the dissenting opinion, was joined by John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter.

In dissenting, O'Connor said the court's decision could force millions of youths who haven't given school officials a reason to suspect they are using illegal drugs to undergo "intrusive" urine tests.

Justice Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion, countered that student athletes are important role models in the war on drugs and that students give up their privacy by using communal locker rooms and showers.