November 3, 2011
Today, the state of Florida filed notice of appeal in the case of Luis Lebron. Last week, as the result of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) on behalf of Luis Lebron, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven halted enforcement of Florida’s new law mandating drug tests for all applicants for the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
The following statement on the State’s filing of its appeal today is from Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida.
“It’s disappointing – but not surprising -- that the Governor has instructed his attorneys to continue defending the indefensible. Gov. Scott wants to continue wasting more money on a legal crusade defending a campaign pledge to create an unconstitutional, big-government program that is itself a waste of money.
“Last month in federal court in Orlando, the Governor’s attorneys pushed the startling proposition that some Floridians – namely poor families asking for temporary government assistance – were not protected by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Judge Scriven rightfully tossed out that notion and the arguments made to support it.
“Governor Scott is sadly confused about conservative principles. No true conservative would defend a program that allows government to conduct intrusive, privacy-violating searches on people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing, but who are simply applicants for government services.
“Being poor is not a crime, and the state should not treat poor Floridians like suspected criminals.
“The ACLU of Florida will defend the federal court’s condemnation of invasive, stigmatizing, and unconstitutional suspicionless searches, and protect the constitutional rights of Luis Lebron and all TANF applicants.”
