Sponsor of Florida Bill to Drug Test Public Workers Says Being An Elected Official Is Totally Different
It's hard to know who to root for in a case like this; a potential bill in Florida would allow all public workers to be drug tested (tight budgets permitting) —except, that is, members of the Florida state legislature, one of whom just happens to be the sponsor of said bill.
According to the Huffington Post:
Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Lecanto), the bill's sponsor, said he supports drug testing for lawmakers, but requiring them to pee in cups like everyone else would violate their constitutional rights. In an email to The Huffington Post, Smith cited the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997 decision in Chandler v. Miller, which struck down tests for political candidates in Georgia.
While he "strongly" supports drug testing for legislators, Smith said, "being elected to office is completely different from being hired by a company or agency."
Some of Smith's Democratic colleagues think his bill would set a double standard. "I firmly believe we have to lead by example," Rep. Joe Abruzzo (D-Wellington) said last week, according to the Miami Herald. "The day that I have to go take a [drug] test as a state representative is the day that I'll support this legislation."
Discouraging everyone from working in government is tempting, but the usual tedious hypocrisy of this kind of bill applying to everyone except its sponsors and passers kind of diminishes the schadenfreude of pestering small-time government employees. (Chandler v. Miller, by the way, was brought before the court by members of the state Libertarian Party.)
2011 saw more than 30 attempts (mostly by Republicans) to pass bills which would drug test people applying for various forms of government aid. A handful of admittedly awesome Democrats responded with attempts to mandate drug-testing of legislators, most memorably in Georgia.
Smith has some legal precedent in his arguments, and he's even man enough to take the piss-test himself if it comes to that:
"To this date, the Supreme Court has only heard two cases relating to drug testing employees, and both of these were held constitutional," Smith said. "The Supreme Court is the ultimate law of the land, and, to date, drug testing of state employees has not been found unconstitutional."
Nevertheless, Smith stressed that he's not opposed to taking drug tests as a member of the Florida Legislature.
"In fact, just last week at the demand of some constituents, I gladly paid $40 out of my own pocket to take a drug test and passed this test," he said. "I will continue to make these results available in my office to any constituent who is interested in viewing them. My constituents are my boss, and if asked, I will gladly take a drug test."
Many people who object to the potential legislation say it's wrong and more to the point, it's likely to be instantly killed by lawsuits. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) already issued two executive orders which were stopped by lawsuits (including one by the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, who argued the Fourth Amendment violation angle) last fall. One of those was the controversial bill to test every single welfare applicant in the state.
Reason on drug tests, Jacob Sullum in 2002 on why people suddenly became so jazzed about drug tests (follow the money, as usual, is part of the reason).
