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Drug Tests For Jobs Associated With Security Risks Allowed

1989

In National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab, the U.S. Supreme Court allows the government to drug-test U.S. Customs Service employees who are applying for jobs involving interdiction of illegal drugs or possession of a gun. The safety and security risks associated with those jobs, the court reasons, make such searches “reasonable,” and thus permissible under the Fourth Amendment even without a suspicion of wrongdoing.