NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Justice Dept. Drug Test Struck Down

A federal judge ruled that the Constitution limits the government’s power to require drug tests for job applicants if the job has nothing to do with police work, public safety or official secrets. The decision by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell came in the case of Carl Willner, who filed suit after the Justice Department tentatively accepted him for employment in its Antitrust Division and then asked him to submit to a urine test. Gesell pointed out that Willner would not have access to top secret classified information and was not a prosecutor in drug cases.