Court Upholds Plan to Test Customs Agents for Drugs

A plan to require drug tests for U.S. Customs Service employees who want promotions to drug enforcement jobs was upheld Wednesday by a federal appeals court.

The 2-1 decision overturned a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Collins, who had said the testing program was unconstitutional.

A separate case, involving President Reagan’s order for drug testing of federal employees, goes before Collins on April 30.

In the customs case, the National Treasury Employees Union argued that drug tests would violate Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches.

Balance of Rights

Judge Alvin Rubin, writing for the majority of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, said the tests could be considered searches but would be legal. In determining whether the search is unconstitutional, Rubin wrote, the needs of society must be balanced against the rights of the individual.

“Because of the strong governmental interest in employing individuals for key positions in drug enforcement who themselves are not drug users and the limited intrusiveness of this particular program, it is reasonable and, therefore, is not unconstitutional,” he wrote.

In Washington, Robert Tobias, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the union will petition for a stay of the court’s order this week and will file an appeal with the Sup1919249765the full 5th Circuit bench.

Lawyers for the Justice Department had argued that customs needed the drug testing plan to prevent drug enforcement agents who used drugs from being bribed or blackmailed.

Judge Robert M. Hill, who dissented, said the plan was an ineffective method to achieve customs’ goals and “thus . . . an unreasonable invasion of the Custom Service’s employees’ Fourth Amendment rights.”

He noted that customs agents already employed in sensitive positions would not be tested and that, once an employee was tested and accepted in the sensitive position, he would never be tested again.

The customs case is separate from the broader case involving Reagan’s order that all federal agencies establish drug screening for “sensitive positions.”

The order did not define what those positions are. Opponents say it gives too much discretion to agency heads to decide who will and will not undergo tests.