United States | Drug testing in Florida

Their tea-cup runneth over

Rick Scott’s zeal for drug testing runs into stiff opposition

|JACKSONVILLE

RICK SCOTT campaigned on getting Florida back to work, and though the unemployment rate remains in double digits, the state's new governor has at least kept the Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) busy. The branch sued him twice in the first three days of June, and may file a third suit in early July. Two of the suits—one filed and the prospective one—concern the constitutionality of blanket drug-testing. On June 1st the ACLU sued to stop the implementation of an executive order signed by Mr Scott that requires all applicants for state jobs to be tested for drugs, and existing state employees to be randomly tested. The prospective suit concerns the law, signed by Mr Scott on May 31st, that requires all adult applicants for cash benefits from Florida's welfare system to be tested.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "Their tea-cup runneth over"

A beatable president

From the June 11th 2011 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Escalating protests expose three fault lines on American campuses

Universities struggle with how to regulate free speech and other rules

California’s population is growing again

The pandemic doldrums are over


Hawaii may soon have America’s first official state gesture

It would join the shag, the whoopie pie and other state symbols across the country