9th Circuit: Public Employee Drug Test Was Unconstitutional

Today the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion holding that a preemployment drug test on an Oregon public employee was unconstitutional.  The plaintiff was offered a job in a city library conditioned on a drug test.  She challenged the drug test on Fourth Amendment grounds.  The 9^th Circuit determined that the city failed to show any special needs for the test because there was no prior evidence of drug abuse in the library job and the job was not high-risk or safety sensitive.  The case is Lanier v. City of Woodburn and can be read here.