ACLU-NC & Others Call on Gov. McCrory to Veto Drug Testing Bill
In Letter to Governor, Civil Rights Groups Say HB 392 “Wastes States Resources and Infringes on the Constitutional Rights of Those on Public Assistance”
July 31, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org
RALEIGH, N.C. – Today the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC), the North Carolina Justice Center, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice sent a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, asking him to veto H.B. 392, legislation that would require some applicants to the state’s Work First program, which provides temporary support for families as they work toward self-sufficiency, to pay up front for and submit to urine tests before receiving public assistance.
During a press conference on Friday, Gov. McCrory said he had “major concerns” about H.B. 392’s “fair application” and was considering a veto.
The bill “represents a government intrusion into the physical privacy of a select group of North Carolinians merely because they have fallen on hard times,” the letter states. “The privacy and dignity of all North Carolinians are protected by restrictions on unreasonable searches in both our federal and state constitutions, especially searches as invasive as those proposed in this bill.”
The entire letter can be read online at acluofnc.org.
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