Court spectator sues judge for drug-testing him ‘on a hunch’

[Are_grits_groceries]

A Tennessee judge who ordered a court spectator to submit to a drug test based "on a hunch" is being sued for infringing on the spectator's constitutional rights.

Benjamin Marchant's lawsuit (PDF) against Dickson County Judge Durwood Moore says Marchant was a spectator in the court in January of 2009, waiting to give a friend a ride home, when Moore ordered sheriff's deputies to administer a urinalysis on Marchant on nothing more than a "hunch."

Marchant says he was released when the drug test came back negative.

His lawsuit states that Judge Moore admitted that he "routinely drug-screens 'spectators' in his courtroom if he 'thinks' they may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol," a policy Moore reportedly calls "routine," according to Courthouse News.

The lawsuit says Judge Moore was publicly censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court last May over the incident, and was ordered "to never violate a person’s constitutional rights as he did to the plaintiff."
http://rawstory.com/2010/01/judge-sued-drug-test-hunch/

WTF? I hope that judge is more than publicly censured now.

[malaise]

1. Pity he didn't test the former

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I've often wondered if others knowledge of his 'drug use' influenced that 2000 decision.

[zbdent]

2. too bad Judge Moore doesn't have to submit daily to a drug test ...

to make sure he isn't making rulings while "under the influence" ...

hmm ... maybe he should ... "Dickson County General Sessions Judge Censured"

link: http://www.tennesseegadfly.com/2009/08/on-may-1-dickson-county-general.html

[TexasObserver]

3. He's unfit to be on the bench and should be removed from office.