Governor Rick Scott on Thursday announced that the State would be appealing a federal judge’s ruling barring enforcement of a mandatory drug test for new applicants for federal cash, assistance enacted by lawmakers earlier this year.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven halted enforcement of the new law requiring mandatory drug tests, in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, on behalf of Luis Lebron, a UCF student who refused to take the test when he applied for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). TANF is a federal program that provides cash assistance to families with children.
Scriven, in her ruling said, the testing procedure could cause irreparable harm to TANF recipients.
Rep. Cynthia Stafford (D-Miami), reacting to Scott’s announcement to appeal the ruling said, the governor was continuing to waste taxpayer dollars.
“It is a great disappointment to learn that Governor Scott is continuing to waste taxpayer dollars on a legal crusade to defend what I believe is an unconstitutional intrusion in people’s lives,” she said. “What Governor Scott continues to forget is that being poor is not a crime, and the state should not attempt to treat poor Floridians as though they are criminal suspects. Mandatory drug testing for the purpose of applying for necessary assistance is mean-spirited, wasteful and unconstitutional.”
Stafford has already filed legislation, House Bill 4065, to permanently halt the drug screening for assistance.
