Conservatives Blow Off the Constitution to Degrade Poor People

[Tx4obama]

Politicians across the country have been ginning up support for the idea of mandatory drug testing for people receiving government benefits. They used to reserve this intrusion into the private lives of poor individuals for those they deemed the “least deserving,” those on welfare. But, recently, they have been willing to advocate that people receiving unemployment benefits, food stamps and even job training should be tested as well. It is part of the general strategy of the GOP to demonize government benefits and magnify the impression that people receiving benefits are drug abusers. The greater issue is that liberal pushback against this agenda has not been strong enough to prevent conservatives from defining the issue. If liberals do not begin to go on the offensive against the momentum conservatives are building, they will find themselves once again fumbling to defend against a narrative that conservatives have managed to determine.

According to the ACLU, during the 2011 legislative session there were bills in over 30 states for the testing of people receiving government benefits ranging from housing to welfare. This surge of support for mandatory drug testing of the poor is taking place despite past court rulings finding it unconstitutional. Specifically, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2003 that Michigan’s program to drug test welfare recipients violated the 4th amendment right that requires the government to have a compelling criminal case before searching an individual. It turns out that simply being in need of help is not a compelling reason for the government to conduct a search, particularly one as invasive as collecting bodily fluids. The judge pointed out that there was nothing to stop the government from next testing people who attended public school. Remarkably, it turns out that the ACLU has had to fight that battle against a Missouri public technical college that was requiring that all of its students be drug tested.

These facts haven’t deterred Republican legislators across the country from working overtime to pass laws for mandatory drug testing. Many liberals are familiar with Governor Rick Scott of Florida’s push to test welfare recipients, because it famously found fully 96% of applicants for welfare tested negative. Naturally, Florida’s testing program was halted by a court order, specifically because the blanket testing of people seeking help was judged to violate the 4th amendment. Less well known, Indiana has also passed a law requiring people who apply for job training and unemployment benefits to be drug tested which found only 2% tested positive. Georgia has a Senate bill that would test people applying for both welfare and Medicaid while a separate bill would require food stamp recipients to engage in “personal growth” activities. Kentucky has a bill that tries to get around the court rulings about unconstitutional illegal searches by putting caseworkers in charge of determining who seems to be “suspicious” and worthy of a drug test. Some states are even considering testing for nicotine. Yes, seriously, nicotine.

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http://www.politicususa.com/conservatives-degrade-poor-people/

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