Florida Governor Delays Testing of State Workers for Drugs

Florida Governor Rick Scott is delaying implementation of a new law to test state workers for drugs, in response to legal challenges, the Associated Press reports. He signed the law earlier this week, after it was passed by the legislature.

The bill would be the first of its kind in the country. It would allow up to 10 percent of state employees to be randomly tested every three months. The measure also would make it easier to fire a worker who had a single confirmed positive drug test.

Last year, Governor Scott tried to mandate state employee drug testing through an executive order, which was suspended while it is being challenged in federal court, the article notes.

“Governor Scott signed this law in clear defiance of constitutional principles,” Howard Simon, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said in a statement. “It’s amazing that the governor and the legislature would move ahead with a law that so clearly violates the Constitutional protections against invasive government searches without suspicion – especially while a legal challenge on precisely the same issue is pending in the federal court.”