CopyCited 3 times | Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124818, 2011 WL 5040993
...2), Motion for Class Certification (Dkt. 16) and Reply to Defendant's opposition to preliminary injunctive relief (Dkt. 22), along with the State's responses (Dkt. 19; Dkt. 16) in opposition to Plaintiff's motions. I. INTRODUCTION The question presented is whether Section 414.0652, Florida Statutes, which requires all applicants for a class of federal welfare benefits to submit to suspicionless drug testing, is constitutional under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Based on the evidence submitted by the parties on their written submissions and at a hearing on Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction against the enforcement of Section 414.0652 against him until this matter is fully adjudicated by the Court....
...2-1 at 1, 2.) Plaintiff has sole custody of his four-year old son and is an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida with prior military service. Lebron Aff. ¶ 5 (Dkt. 2-1 at 1.) Though Plaintiff attests that he has never used illegal drugs, Section 414.0652 requires him to submit to drug testing as a condition of eligibility for *1276 TANF benefits....
...2-1 at 3.) DCF has stipulated that, as of the date of the initiation of this action, Plaintiff is eligible for TANF benefits, aside from his failure to provide proof that he has tested negative for controlled substances. Berner Aff. ¶ 10 (Dkt. 19-1 at 5; Dkt. 19 at 5.) Plaintiff contends that Section 414.0652 violates his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches, and he seeks a preliminary injunction on behalf of himself and a class of persons similarly situated to enjoin the State from enforcing this statute as a condition for receipt of TANF benefits....
...capacity or independence from social assistance; despite the fact that the study revealed no financial efficacy; despite the legal ramifications; and, despite the express recommendation that the project not be continued or expanded, Florida enacted Section 414.0652 on May 31, 2011. Section 414.0652 requires each individual who applies for TANF funding to take a drug test. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(1). The applicant must initially bear the expense of the drug testing, which costs between $24 and $45. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(1); Duchene Aff....
...ust take place at an "approved laboratory" authorized by DCF to administer drug testing. Berner Aff. ¶ 6 (Dkt. 19-1 at 3.) If the applicant tests negative, TANF funds will be used to reimburse the applicant for the cost of the drug test. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(2)(a)....
...g prescription or over-the-counter medications and must legitimize their use. Although this requirement is presented as optional, if the applicant does not so disclose, the applicant may be denied benefits due to a positive screening. See FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(2)(d)-(j)....
...¶ 6 (Dkt. 19-2 at 3.) Any applicants who test positive for controlled substances and have no medically approved excuse for the positive result are immediately sanctioned; they are rendered ineligible to receive TANF benefits for one year. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(1)(b). However, an applicant may reapply after 6 months and may receive benefits if the individual successfully completes a substance abuse treatment program and passes a drug test, the costs of which are to be borne by the applicant. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(2)(j). If an adult tests positive for illicit drug use, children in the family may still receive benefits if another approved adult, referred to as a "protective payee," provides a negative drug test for controlled substances. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(3)(b)-(c)....
...Preliminary Injunction Hearing at 10:58 A.M. (Drew Parker, attorney for DCF); see also FLA. STAT. §
39.202(2)(b)-(c). However, the Parent Needs Assistance referral does not trigger formal reports of child abuse or neglect, which are governed under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes. Section
414.0652 became effective July 1, 2011, and drug testing began in earnest during the month of July. FINAL B. ANALYSIS, H.B. 353 (2011) (Dkt. 22-4 at 1); Berner Aff. ¶ 6 (Dkt. 19-1 at 3.) The preliminary results from the drug testing conducted pursuant to Section
414.065 reveal even lower drug use among TANF applicants than demonstrated by the results of the Demonstration Project....
...unreasonable searches and that preliminary injunctive relief is required to avoid the irreparable harm that will befall him and others similarly situated without the issuance of an injunction. (Dkt. 2 at 1.) The State offers four rejoinders: (1) the Section 414.0652 requirement for acquiescence to a drug test is not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment; (2) Section 414.0652 is justified by the "special needs" of the State to conduct drug testing within the ambit of its administration of TANF funds; (3) Plaintiff will suffer no irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction because he is free to refuse...
...The Court will address each of these considerations in turn. a. Likelihood of Success on the Merits The Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated that, on the current record, there is a substantial likelihood that his challenge to the constitutionality of Section 414.0652 under the Fourth Amendment will succeed....
...The aid then never begins or merely ceases, as the case may be. There is no entry of the home and there is no search." Wyman,
400 U.S. at 317-18,
91 S.Ct. 381. Defendant contends that the principles announced in Wyman control the outcome of this case and compel the conclusion that Section
414.0652 does not implicate a search....
...an in ordinary civil drug testing cases. See Ferguson,
532 U.S. at 78,
121 S.Ct. 1281. In light of the inherently investigative character of the drug test and binding legal authority, the Court rejects the argument that a drug test taken pursuant to Section
414.0652 is not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment....
...t and by filing this action. Lebron Aff. ¶ 21 (Dkt. 2-1 at 3.) Under these facts, the Court finds that Plaintiff's initial consent does not bar the invocation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to be free from suspicionless drug testing under Section 414.0652....
...The researchers also found no evidence that TANF recipients who screened and tested positive for the use of illicit substances were any less likely to find work than those who screened and tested negative. The Florida Legislature, in fact, enacted the Section 414.0652 over the express recommendation of its own researchers not to expand the Demonstration Project statewide because it was not shown to meet these goals....
...by the Florida Legislature to study the scope of the perceived problem of drug abuse among Florida's TANF applicants and the concomitant benefits of drug testing; and, (2) the preliminary results from the drug testing conducted thus far pursuant to Section 414.0652....
...19 at 21.) Rather, the evidence suggests that those risks are less prevalent among TANF applicants. The Court, therefore, rejects the suggestion that the inchoate public health or crime risks assertions incanted by the State justify the Fourth Amendment intrusions mandated by Section 414.0652....
...e manner as the school board in Earls. (Dkt. 19 at 20.) This contention is without merit. At the point at which the drug test is demanded, the State has not made a TANF contribution for the benefit of the children. Moreover, the children affected by Section 414.0652 remain in the custody of their caretakers, not the State, regardless of whether the caretaker tests positive for drugs and regardless of whether Florida withholds TANF benefits as a consequence....
...rights of the parents. Marchwinski v. Howard,
113 F.Supp.2d 1134, 1142 (E.D.Mich.2000) aff'd, 60 Fed. Appx. 601 (6th Cir.2003) (affirmed on rehearing by evenly divided en banc panel). [7] In light of this concern and in the absence of a showing that Section
414.0652 was promulgated in response to any concrete danger to the children of Florida's TANF recipients, the Court declines to extend the special need for drug testing public school students to the facts of this case....
...The State has not shown by competent evidence that any TANF funds would be saved by instituting a drug testing program. The State, of course, concedes the substantial cost of administering the program: everyone who tests negative must be reimbursed for the cost of the drug test. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(2)(a)....
...Even as to those 2 percent of applicants who are known drug users, "annualized savings" calculations inflate the claimed savings because those applicants do not have to forego an entire year of TANF assistance but may reapply after 6 months. FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(2)(j)....
...lt family member who provides a negative drug test to receive the same funds that are purported to be saved. See PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, FLA. S.B. ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT, S.B. 556 (2011) (Dkt. 22-5 at 6); FLA. STAT. § 414.0652(3)(b). Therefore, on this record, the State has not demonstrated any financial benefit or net savings will accrue as a result of the passage of Section 414.0652....
...Through this effort, Florida gathered evidence on the scope of this *1292 problem and the efficacy of the proposed solution. The results debunked the assumptions of the State, and likely many laypersons, regarding TANF applicants and drug use. The State nevertheless enacted Section 414.0652, without any concrete evidence of a special need to do so at least not that has been proffered on this record....
...it upon the State. IV. CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED. It is therefore ORDERED that the State is hereby ENJOINED from requiring Plaintiff to submit to a suspicionless drug test pursuant to Section 414.0652, Florida Statutes, as a condition for receipt of TANF benefits until this case is finally resolved on the merits....
