Washington Supreme Court Rules Random Drug Tests Are Unconstitutional

Washington Supreme Court Rules Random Drug Tests Are Unconstitutional

Washington’s Supreme Court has ruled that random urinalysis tests are unconstitutional.

The ruling, which sets immediate precedent, came after three individuals were charged in Spokane County with DUI in 2015. As a condition of their charges, Cortney Blomstrom, Christopher Cooper, and Brooke Button were forced to undergo regular urine tests (the latter two were charged with driving under the influence of marijuana and had previous criminal records). The three, however, objected to the court order, claiming it to be too invasive.

After taking the case to the Spokane County Superior Court and having their request (to remove the urine test requirement) denied, the case was moved up to the Washington State Supreme Court, which sided with the three and reversed the testing requirement.

“Urinalysis is at least as invasive as a roadblock or a pat-down search,” said the court in their ruling. The tests were found to be in direct violation of an individuals privacy, meaning it violated the fourth amendment which prevents unreasonable search and seizure without

The court did, however, offer a partial dissent, stating that “Judges should not be categorically prohibited from imposing necessary and narrowly tailored release conditions on defendants arrested on probable cause for DUI.”