When self-loathing becomes law: Clarence Thomas story (part I)

There are several reasons why The Bill of Rights is becoming irrelevant to the majority of Americans. One is because it does not apply to the private sector, and the happiness and well-being of most Americans is contingent upon this sector; thus there is a greater fear of offending one’s boss than offending the government. The doctrine of “at-will” employment permits an employer tofire an employee for any reason or for no reason at all; consequently if there is a choice between expressing an opinion and getting fired or remaining silent and staying employed, most people will be inclined to select the latter.

Another reason is the concerted effort to keep Americans ignorant of their freedoms under The Bill of Rights. This is being accomplished through policies like “random” drug testing in the public schools.

On the surface, it is difficult to argue with the promoted purpose of “random” drug testing, since most people will agree that deterring children from abusing drugs is a noble idea. But the real reasons for such testing are far more insidious.

First, “random” drug testing is a recipe for corruption, because private testing laboratories may be inclined to provide financial kickbacks to school officials in return for their business. Those who doubt that the rights of children can be abused for profit need only look to Pennsylvania, where two juvenile court judges have been accused of accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for sending youthful offenders to privately owned detention centers.

Second, the term “random” is nothing more than a disingenuous way to circumvent the law. Schools already have the right to search students on the basis of “reasonable suspicion,” a lower standard than the traditionally used “probable cause.” Proponents of random drug testing, however, have deceptively argued that the use of the “reasonable suspicion” standard could raise allegations that students of certain races and genders were being discriminatorily singled out for testing. So, by hiding behind the word “random,” school officials can manipulate their computers to choose which students to test while pretending to have no control over the selection process.

But the primary reason for “random” drug testing in the public schools is to brainwash students into accepting governmental intrusions as a way of life. Testing of students often begins in the sixth grade and continues until they graduate from high school. Repeatedly being removed from the classroom and forced to urinate into a cup while a stranger stands outside and listens can easily transform impressionable children into subservient adults.

As a former professor, I’ve already observed this subservience in college-age students. Whenever I asked them their opinion about “random” drug testing in the public schools, most would reply, “If you’re not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about.”

While this explanation may sound reasonable to them, what it is really doing is decimating two fundamental rights: the right to privacy and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

In reality the right to privacy is almost dead in the United States. Anytime people leave their homes they are subject to being photographed or videotaped—on the highways, where they shop, even from outer space. Computers can track the habits of their users, expose what websites they visit, and even zoom in on their homes. Cell phones and other such devices can photograph or videotape people without their knowledge or consent, and GPS systems can track a person’s whereabouts twenty-four hours a day. In essence, unless you are a hermit living off the land in a densely wooded forest, your privacy is compromised on a daily basis.

Only one prong of the right to privacy has survived—“the right to be left alone.” But, thanks to “random” drug testing, even that right is moribund.

The Bill of Rights decrees that unless you are suspected of some criminal wrongdoing, the government is supposed to leave you alone. It also decrees that people are not required to prove their innocence. Yet it is not difficult to see how “random” drug testing policies and procedures abolish these rights, forcing children suspected of no wrongdoing to prove their innocence through compulsory urination, while being required to sacrifice their “right to be left alone” to do so.

To be continued...

David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda.Ru