Florida judge blocks drug tests for state workers

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

MIAMI | Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:06pm EDT

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Miami has tossed out an executive order from Florida Governor Rick Scott requiring drug testing of state employees, saying it violated the constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Republican governor last year ordered random drug tests for all state employees and new hires, regardless of whether they were suspected of drug use, arguing it was similar to the financial disclosures required for some workers.

In a ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro described Scott's reasoning as "hardly transparent and frankly obscure" and said it violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment's search and seizure protections.

"He offers no plausible rationale explaining why the fact that a state employee's work product and financial status are publicly accessible leads to the conclusions that the employee's expectation of privacy in his or her bodily functions and fluids are then diminished," Ungaro wrote.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/26/us-usa-florida-drugtests-idUSBRE83P15I20120426

[alp227]

1. This judge is a Republican, too! (A George HW Bush nominee)

[siligut]

2. Not all repubs are pukes

Rare when they are in high positions, but true. But it may be he knows of reasons some employees shouldn't be tested, you never know.

[alp227]

5. Ursula=she

[bucolic_frolic]

3. If it's an UNREASONABLE SEARCH and SEIZURE for the state ......-

why is corporate America allowed to do it every day?

Doesn't peeing in a cup in front of your boss just disgust you?

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. If you don't want to have to pee in a cup for your job...

...join a union and negotiate it in your contract. Otherwise, you're out of luck.

The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches by the government, not from unreasonable searches by employers.

[appal_jack]

10. And yet, corporations are chartered by the state.

The fact that drug tests in the corporate workplace are common should in no way indicate that they are reasonable. I take their prevalence as an indication of how far we have slipped toward a corporate/state tyranny.

-app

[lumberingbear]

4. Rumor has it.....

Rick Scott owns the majority of the labs doing the lab drug tests. This info came our when he got the bill passed through the Florida Legislature. to test all welfare recipients for drugs each month.

[Bozita]

6. iirc, he transferred ownership to his wife.

[LarryNM]

8. New Law Applicable to Everyone and Everything

If Anyone at any entity is required to take drug tests then Everyone is required to do so. If any part of government at any level requires drug tests for Anyone then Everyone at that part of government must do so (this means you SCOTUS). This is more than just drug tests. Can't be done? Then perhaps the nation that Replaces this one will do so, not If but When.

[rocktivity]

9. After you, Mr. Scott.

After all, aren't YOU the ULTIMATE "state worker"?


rocktivity

[Eugene]

11. Governor vows appeal of judge's rejection of his state employee drug-testing order

Source: Palm Beach Post

Governor vows appeal of judge's rejection of his state employee drug-testing order

By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 7:34 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2012
Posted: 7:17 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2012

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Scott immediately said he would appeal.

"Drug testing state employees is a common sense means of ensuring a safe, efficient and productive workforce," Scott said. "That is why so many private employers drug test and why the public and Florida's taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy."

Glenn Holcomb, a West Palm Beach employee of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, praised Ungaro's ruling and called Scott's decision to appeal an insult to him and his colleagues.

The money spent fighting the lawsuit would be better spent giving state employees, who have gone without a raise for five years, a pay hike, said Holcomb, who has worked for the state for more than three decades.

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Read more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/governor-vows-appeal-of-judges-rejection-of-his-2327361.html

[K8-EEE]

12. When does the Governor have to pee in a cup?

Isn't he a "state employee" too?