National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||
| Argued November 2, 1988 Decided March 21, 1989 |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Holding | ||||||||||||
| The United States Customs Service's drug testing imposed on its employees does not violate the Fourth Amendment. | ||||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||||
| Chief Justice: William Rehnquist Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Jr., Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy |
||||||||||||
| Case opinions | ||||||||||||
| Majority by: Kennedy Joined by: Rehnquist, White, O'Connor, Blackmun Dissent by: Scalia Joined by: Stevens Dissent by: Marshall Joined by: Brennan |
||||||||||||
| Laws applied | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | ||||||||||||
National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab 489 U.S. 656 (1989) was a United States Supreme Court case involving the Fourth Amendment and its implication on drug testing programs. The majority of the court upheld the drug testing program in United States Customs Service.
Contents |
[edit] Background
In 1986, the U.S. Customs Service imposed a drug testing program for "employees seeking transfer or promotion to positions having direct involvement in drug interdiction," required to carry firearms, or have access to classified information. The National Treasury Employees Union sued and alleged that the program was violative of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the government. The union then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals ruling with regard to positions involving drug interdiction and firearms. The ruling for classified information was held over, as the Supreme Court determined that the U.S. Customs Service too broadly included employee groups who would not generally have access to high levels of classified information.
[edit] Decision
The majority decision authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy upheld the constitutionality of the drug testing program, reasoning that the employees of customs service had "diminished expectation of privacy." Justice Marshall wrote a dissent in which he was joined by Justice Brennan; Justice Scalia wrote a dissent in which Justice Stevens joined.
[edit] See also
- Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton and Board of Education v. Earls, both also deal with drug testing, but in schools rather than customs service.
- Ferguson v. City of Charleston, a case involving drug test imposed on pregnant women in hospitals.
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 489
