Posted on 09/11/2011 5:21:00 PM PDT by John Semmens
A Florida law requiring welfare recipients to pass a drug test before receiving benefits is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU contends that the law is an unconstitutional “search and seizure.”
“Welfare must be made available based upon need,” explained ACLU spokesman Bertram Petty. “It cannot be made contingent upon passage of a drug test. Drug addiction is not a crime. Therefore, the state has no ‘probable cause’ for seizing anyone’s urine and subjecting it to any test.”
Petty dismissed the argument that applying for welfare benefits is a voluntary act and that no one is forced into the drug test. “Need is what forces a person into the welfare system,” Petty argued. “It has been widely accepted that drug addiction is a disabling condition that thrusts a person into a needful status. To insist that an addict is at fault for his own condition blames the victim.”
“We’re not denying that a person may contribute to his own decrepit condition,” Petty continued. “A lot of those in need got that way because they’re lazy or improvident. Yet, these people can pass the required drug test. Surely, a person who is disabled by drugs has a stronger claim on our sympathy than one who is simply lazy. For an addict to be denied benefits because of his affliction is discriminatory. It cannot be permitted.”
read more...
http://azconserv1.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/president%e2%80%99s-jobs-speech-wows-congress/
Uhn, Bertram, drug addiction is a crime if the recipient is a pregnant woman.
Au contraire, if they can afford to buy drugs they are NOT in need....I call BS!
you got me again
Some of these people sell their food stamps for drugs. A cousin of a close friend of mine actually does this. Have we become a “junkie” nation?
What’s next?
Sounds like the ACLU is going to sue to ensure that drug addicts are
1.) guaranteed a job (damn that “drug-free” workplace crap);
2.) guaranteed a home (damn those “drug-free” living environments, sober living homes, half-way houses and that fascist group called the Salvation Army);
3.) guaranteed an education.
ALL AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE.
Absolutely ridiculous. Guess they are running out BS causes are need to find new ones.
I like it.... ACLU can pack sand !
Oh..... Never mind.
We help those in need out of moral integrity, not because they must be rewarded.
I’m not so sure this should be considered satire.
If drug addiction is considered a “disability” under the federal American with Disabilities Act, then because of the supremacy doctrine of federal over state law in the eyes of a liberal judge it may be illegal under federal law for a state to deny welfare payments on the basis of that “disability.”
Wow, nailed me.
What liars.
or maybe not
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/8912-aclu-of-florida-sues-for-drug-testing-of-welfare-applicants
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s new law requiring mandatory drug-testing of welfare recipients promotes “ugly stereotypes” and should be overturned as unconstitutional, the ACLU of Florida said Wednesday.
The ACLU filed a suit in Orlando on behalf of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old Orlando man, Navy veteran and University of Central Florida student. Lebron and his four-year-old son were declared eligible for benefits through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, but Lebron refused to take the required drug test and has not received aid.
Critics of the law said that in addition to being unconstitutional, it demeans Floridians in need of state assistance.
“It is a public policy that really rests on ugly stereotypes,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida ACLU.
Although many private employers require drug-testing of prospective workers before hiring, the ACLU maintains the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guards against unreasonable searches by the government. Some type of suspicion or public need, such as safety, must be proven before tests can be required without cause, the suit argues.
...Drug addiction is not a crime....
But using illegal drugs to become a drug addict IS a crime. Buying illegal drugs is a crime. Using them is a crime and abusing any ILLEGAL drug is a crime and poison to your body. Why must taxpayers pick up the bill for this inanity>( is "inanity" a word? It should be if just for my diatribe)
Drug addiction is not a crime. Without a prescription, indulging that addiction is.
Damn, you’re good, John!
You had ME going and I should know better.
As always, the best semi-satire is “good” because it is so close to reality.
the real story:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/aclu-sues-over-floridas-requiring-drug-tests-for-1825777.html
Pray tell good Sir, what part is satire? The whole shebang sounds all too real.
I stood in the grocery line behind a woman today who swiped a food card with one of those expensive blackberry phones in her hand. WTH????
“based upon need......”
Where have we heard that before?
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