Opinion ID: 2994252
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The efficacy of the means

Text: In Vernonia, the Court noted that it is difficult to use individualized suspicion to drug test a broad population of students, such as athletes. Read in isolation, this comment in Vernonia would permit a school district to implement a random program on a suspicionless basis as long as it would test a large subset of the entire school population. In Chandler, however, the Court stressed that suspicionless drug testing without evidence of a drug problem by the targeted group should not be used if suspicion-based drug testing is possible. See 520 U.S. at 321. We emphasized this restriction in Willis. Here, there is no showing that the students subject to testing are the ones that must be tested to resolve the perceived problems. There simply is a lack of a correlation between drug use and either students in extracurricular activities or student drivers. Given the variety of circumstances under which students enter and exit school premises, it is reasonable to conclude that individualized suspicion of drug and alcohol use by student drivers is not feasible. It would be impossible for the school to determine whether each student driver was drug and alcohol free. However, PHM has made no showing that teachers, staff and sponsors of extracurricular activities would not be able to observe the students for suspicious behavior. Accordingly, we conclude that PHM has demonstrated a sufficient government need to overcome the students’ Fourth Amendment rights and to administer random drug testing to students who wish to drive on school property. The danger is well-defined, and the efficacy of testing on individualized suspicion is hardly an adequate preventive measure against the possibility of real and immediate injury. On the other hand, with respect to testing student drivers for nicotine, PHM has not demonstrated a sufficient government need to justify this intrusion. With respect to random testing of those who participate in extracurricular activities, we believe that, according to the methodology employed by the Supreme Court in Vernonia, there has been an inadequate showing that such an intrusion is justified. However, as we discuss in the paragraphs that follow, another consideration--stare decisis and precedent-- dictates a contrary result.