That's just not right. Any decision by the Indiana Supreme Court will have a far-reaching impact. At least 70 of the state's 294 public school corporations have random drug testing programs, which often require athletes, student drivers and those who participate in extracurricular activities to agree to a urinalysis test if their names are selected. The U.S. Supreme Court has already taken a markedly different stance than Indiana's lower courts in recognizing that sometimes the greater public interest outweighs an individual's right to privacy. That latter opinion was reaffirmed last November when the court struck down random roadblocks for drug searches in an Indianapolis case but said checkpoints are still legal.
Lawyers fighting to stop random drug testing and police checkpoints say yes.
Random checks, whether they be for drugs or drunken drivers, violate the Indiana Constitution because they aren't based on suspicion, lawyers in both cases argued. But that doesn't mean the state can deny your constitutional rights as a condition of singing in the choir. But if there's a drug problem in a high school, or a drunken driving problem on the road, then that evidence should be considered and random checks should be allowed, lawyers on the other side argued. A drunken driver on the road means there's an immediate danger to the public, argued Deputy Attorney General Timothy Beam, who defended checkpoints. Fishers resident Frank Venturella, who was stopped at a police checkpoint recently, sees both sides to the argument.