Opinion ID: 1201613
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Expectations of Privacy

Text: The interference with individual privacy that results from the collection of urine for subsequent analysis varies depending on the circumstances. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 671, 109 S.Ct. at 1393; Dimeo, 943 F.2d at 682. The Supreme Court has recognized that certain types of individuals have diminished expectations of privacy even with respect to such personal searches. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 671, 109 S.Ct. at 1393. In this case, I conclude that the student athletes who are subject to CU's drug-testing program have similarly diminished privacy expectations with respect to the intrusions occasioned by a urine test. The following factors all militate in favor of my conclusion: (1) student athletes are subject to regular and routine physical examinations; (2) student athletes voluntarily submit to extensive regulation of their personal behavior; and (3) a communal locker room atmosphere is commonplace in intercollegiate athletics. I examine each consideration separately. Because the physical condition of a student athlete is a primary focus of intercollegiate athletics, student athletes are routinely physically examined to determine fitness to compete. See Dimeo, 943 F.2d at 682 (recognizing that athletes must submit to frequent medical examinations); Schaill, 864 F.2d at 1318 (stating that physical examinations are integral to athletic programs). Unlike most private citizens or other students, student athletes reasonably expect routine inquiry into their fitness. Cf. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 671, 109 S.Ct. at 1433. As part of their annual medical examinations, student athletes provide urine samples under circumstances similar to those used in CU's drug-testing program. Throughout the year, student athletes also undergo close physical contact with both trainers and medical personnel in the course of being examined, diagnosed, and treated for injuries or potential injuries. See O'Halloran, 679 F.Supp. at 1005 (recognizing that in the context of athletic examinations, viewing and touching is tolerated among relative strangers that would be firmly rejected in other contexts). Based on this continuing physical examination and close physical contact with trainers and medical personnel, student athletes have diminished expectations of privacy with respect to the intrusions occasioned by a urine test. See Dimeo, 943 F.2d at 682 (stating that the affront to privacy that is caused by the giving of a urine sample is slight for people who are subject to frequent examinations). The extensive regulation of behavior that student athletes voluntarily submit to further reduces their privacy expectations. Student athletes are regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Big 8 Conference, CU, and their individual athletic programs. Among others, the regulations include maintenance of required levels of academic performance, monitoring of course selection, training rules, practice schedules, weight and diet restrictions, curfews, and prohibitions on drug use. Significantly, student athletes at CU are already subject to the NCAA drug-testing program which mandates suspicionless urine testing of student athletes. In my view, the expectation of privacy of student athletes with respect to the intrusions occasioned by a urine test are greatly diminished based on their voluntary participation in the highly regulated area of intercollegiate athletics. Cf. Skinner, 489 U.S. at 627, 109 S.Ct. at 1418 (stating that expectations of privacy of covered employees are diminished by reason of their participation in an industry that is regulated pervasively to ensure safety, a goal dependent, in substantial part, on the health and fitness of covered employees); International Bhd. of Teamsters, 932 F.2d at 1300 (concluding that the privacy expectations of commercial truck drivers are diminished because they voluntarily choose to enter a highly regulated profession); Shoemaker v. Handel, 795 F.2d 1136, 1142 (3d Cir.) (recognizing that privacy expectations of jockeys are diminished because of the regulated nature of the sport), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 986, 107 S.Ct. 577, 93 L.Ed.2d 580 (1986). The privacy expectations of student athletes with respect to the intrusions occasioned by a urine test are also diminished because of the communal atmosphere of locker rooms that is commonplace in intercollegiate athletics. By its very nature, a locker room setting consists of communal undress, showering, and urination. See Schaill, 864 F.2d at 1318; O'Halloran, 679 F.Supp. at 1005. In this context, it is difficult to conclude that student athletes do not have reduced privacy expectations in being required to submit a urine sample for testing purposes. These considerations all make it clear that participation in intercollegiate athletics is quite distinguishable from almost any other activity. See Schaill, 864 F.2d at 1318. The distinctive circumstances that diminish student athletes' expectations of privacy, however, do not extend beyond the limited identifiable group of intercollegiate student athletes to other groups, including collegiate students as a whole. No other group is subject to routine physical examinations, submits to extensive regulation of their behavior, and encounters a communal locker room atmosphere on a routine basis. Based on a combination of these factors, it is implausible to conclude that student athletes have strong expectations of privacy with respect to submitting urine samples for testing purposes. Schaill, 864 F.2d at 1319; O'Halloran, 679 F.Supp. at 1005. In addition, CU has designed its drug-testing program for student athletes to significantly minimize the impact on their privacy interests. CU has attempted to reduce the intrusiveness of the collection process in a number of ways. [5] In my view, the procedures prescribed by CU for the collection and analysis of the urine samples do not carry the grave potential for arbitrary and oppressive interference with an individual's privacy interests that the Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent. Von Raab, 489 U.S. at 672 n. 2, 109 S.Ct. at 1394 n. 2.