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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page paper. Mandatory drug testing is a fact of life in the U.S. This paper discusses what conditions are the basis for drug testing be justified under the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The question specifically deals with a program for all city bus drivers in Maryland. Legal opinions and Court rulings are offered. bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PGdrgts.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
absolutely critical to the safety of the persons who ride these buses. By some accounts, more than one-third of all American corporations require employees to submit to drug tests (LaFollette,
1994). These mandates appear to be legal in terms of general employment law (LaFollette, 1994). Besides being legal, these tests seem to decrease drug use, at least on the job
(LaFollette, 1994). Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has ruled a number of times that mandatory drug tests do not violate constitutional rights of citizens (LaFollette, 1994).
LaFollette explains that the "legal roots of mandatory drug testing are found in the common law doctrine of employment at will" (LaFollette, 1994, p. 283). Basically, this law states that
either the employee or the employer can terminate the employment at any time and for any reason (LaFollette, 1994). Of course, since the time of this decision in the early
1900s, numerous labor/employment laws have been enacted that give employees far more security and more guarantees (LaFollette, 1994). Still, in those states that hold to the right to work doctrine,
employees may still be terminated for any reason or no reason. These tenets also can be used in states where the right to work doctrine is not necessarily the
rule of employment. For instance, in Texas, an employee challenged her employers mandatory drug testing program and the Court of Appeals ruled in the favor of the employer (LaFollette, 1994).
Other courts have ruled differently. Opponents to these mandates always invoke the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, charging that drug tests are a violation of their privacy (LaFollette, 1994). The
Fourth Amendment addresses unreasonable searches and the courts, i.e., case law, have ruled that drug tests constitute a search (Silverman, 2002). The U.S. Supreme Court at one point ruled
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