Federal judge overturns Florida law requiring drug testing welfare recipients

[Riot]

Good deal. The Fourth Amendment is alive, even though RGA and ALEC have tried to kill it. Enough of the GOP meme of "welfare queens". It's been baloney since Ronald Reagan invented it out of thin air to win an election. Let alone requiring people applying for welfare to pay for their own drug tests.

A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered an injunction on a Florida law requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving state benefits.

An ACLU lawsuit filed in September claimed the Florida law violates the Fourth Amendment by requiring welfare applicants to submit to a “suspicionless” drug test. [...]

" ...the state provides scant evidence that rampant drug abuse exists among this class of individuals,” Judge Mary Scriven writes in the court order.

“The constitutional rights of a class of citizens are at stake, and the Constitution dictates that the needs asserted to justify subverting those rights must be special, as the case law defines that term, in order for this exception to the Fourth Amendment to apply. … That showing has not been made on this record.”

Talking Points Memo

Since July, 7,030 passed, 32 failed and 1,597 did not provide results, according to the state. The state said it does not track what drugs caused failures, but elsewhere the vast majority of cases involved marijuana.

Good deal for drug cartels and assorted government officials on the take. Hooray!!

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Good deal for drug cartels and assorted government officials on the take. Hooray!!

Bad news for Florida Governor Rick Scott, R-Record Medicare Fraud, who got this passed, and whose chain of Florida private medical clinics (now "owned" by his wife since he ran for Governor) specialize in things like drug testing.

Federal judge sure threw a wrench into that money-making scheme.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

thats to bad..so as the johnsons sit on the new couch and ride around in a 2010 explorer..they wont be bothered to quit smoking weed and chillin on the state..ps they have 6 kids and noone has had a job sence 1992..fire up da blunt..stake on the state knucka..

[Riot]

(Newser) – Florida’s controversial new program to drug test welfare recipients isn’t exactly catching droves of addicts.

So far only 2% of those tests have come up positive, the Tampa Tribune reports, with 96% testing clean and 2% declining to complete the application process.

That rate of failure may still be enough to save Florida a tiny bit of money, but it undermines Gov. Rick Scott's argument that welfare recipients are more likely to use illegal drugs.

Applicants must pay for their own drug tests, but Florida will have to reimburse everyone who tested drug-free. At least 1,000 applicants have taken the test since the program started July 1; at least 1,500 are expected to take it each month.

At this rate, that will amount to $28,800 to $43,200 in reimbursements a month.

http://www.newser.com/story/127011/o...rug-tests.html

Why should welfare recipients be reimbursed? I am sick of having to pay my own way and those god-damned motherf.uckers do NOTHING to survive. Nothing. You're telling me there are that many people in this country who are unable to work?

They're depressed you say? Well here's a gun and two bullets in case you miss. We'll reimburse your family the cost of the second bullet if you miss on the first shot.

This country is beyond gone.

[clyde]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgxYUR1uTMA

[dellinger63]

Since July, 7,030 passed, 32 failed and 1,597 did not provide results, according to the state. The state said it does not track what drugs caused failures, but elsewhere the vast majority of cases involved marijuana.

So if the original plan had been followed 1,629 would have been cut off for failing or not testing (almost 1 in 5 or 18%). Seems to me the plan would have worked.

BTW What’s the difference between testing welfare recipients and DUI roadblocks? Driving is a privilege and receiving welfare is not?

[dagolfer33]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

thats to bad..so as the johnsons sit on the new couch and ride around in a 2010 explorer..they wont be bothered to quit smoking weed and chillin on the state..ps they have 6 kids and noone has had a job sence 1992..fire up da blunt..stake on the state knucka..

.....and to think, they be wantin peeps to pull up their pants when they go up in a bizness. Pullin up da pants is no prolem, just keep sendin tha free money, ya herrrrd!!!

[Riot]

Myth: People on welfare are usually black, teenage mothers who stay on ten years at a time.

Fact: Most welfare recipients are white, adult and on welfare less than two years at a time.

According to the statistics, whites form the largest racial group on welfare; half of all welfare recipients leave in the first two years; and teenagers form less than 8 percent of all welfare mothers.

Myth: Welfare gives people an incentive to avoid work.

Fact: Over 100 studies have not found this alleged incentive.

Statistics show that average welfare benefits pay below the poverty line and less than a full-time job. Research overwhelmingly proves that welfare recipients prefer work to welfare. The General Accounting Office has reviewed over 100 studies on welfare and concluded that welfare does not significantly diminish the incentive to work.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-welfareincentive.htm

Rick Perry and Donald Trump have brought back birtherism, for all those looking for someone to hate on.

[dellinger63]

A substantial fraction of the AFDC caseload potentially could be affected by policies to time-limit AFDC benefits. On average, at a given point in time, about 70 percent of current AFDC recipients have received AFDC for more than 24 months (2 YEARS) and 48 percent have received assistance for more than 60 months (5 YEARS).

So in the real world seven out of ten welfare recipients have been on the public dole for more than 2 years and half over 5 years. I wonder how many are illegals like auntie Obama.

However some good news

The majority of families who leave the welfare system do so after a relatively short period of time -- about half leave within a year; 70 percent within two years and almost 90 percent within five years.

and more bad

But many return almost as quickly as they left -- about 45 percent return within a year and 70 percent return by the end of five years.

www.urban.org

According to the source cited by Riot there are more whites on welfare than black by 1%(38% v. 37%.) However when you consider 2010 census data that shows African Americans make up 12% of population while whites 65% it starts to make that stat a bit clearer.

Considering the differences in size of population by race, would show an African American is five times as likely to be on welfare compared to a white.

[dagolfer33]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

According to the source cited by Riot there are more whites on welfare than black by 1%(38% v. 37%.) However when you consider 2010 census data that shows African Americans make up 12% of population while whites 65% it starts to make that stat a bit clearer.

Considering the differences in size of population by race, would show an African American is five times as likely to be on welfare compared to a white.

I was just about to refer to this fact, but why present this information when it is minimized by such a grand presentation of Fact vs. Myth.

[Riot]

It's sad watching people jump through hoops trying to justify their prejudices and hatred of welfare recipients.

Hey, the John Birch Society is always looking for a few more good haters: you gotta hate gay active-duty soldiers, hate uninsured who die from accidents, cheer governors that kill people.

Yay! It's morning in America! Your candidate appears to be Rick Perry. Unless you hate Muslims more than brown people, then it's Herman Cain.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

It's sad watching people jump through hoops trying to justify their prejudices and hatred of welfare recipients.

It's sad that you feel numbers are now racist and full of hatred.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

Your candidate appears to be Rick Perry. Unless you hate Muslims more than brown people, then it's Herman Cain.

Yea cause he's white. That hatred comes thru loud and clear again.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

It's sad that you feel numbers are now racist and full of hatred.

It's sad you are posting numbers from 15 years ago. 1996 Congressional hearing testimony? Really? Maybe post something from the past 2-3 years? You know, after the financial crash, and the recession, that changed how many hundreds of thousands of people are on welfare?

What are you doing, if not trying to justify your dislike of those awful "welfare recipients"? You're desperate to try and find numbers that fulfill your bitter prejudices against "welfare recipients". Because otherwise, why would the numbers matter to you?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Yea cause he's white. That hatred comes thru loud and clear again.

That doesn't even make any sense.

Herman Cain is the one who already made some pretty nasty public statements about Muslims. If you don't like Muslims, looks like he's your guy. Herb doesn't like them, either.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

It's sad that you feel numbers are now racist and full of hatred.

I didn't say racist, Dell. I said "prejudiced" and "hatred". You know, two words that have completely different meanings than "racist"?

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

What are you doing, if not trying to justify your dislike of those awful "welfare recipients"? You're desperate to try and find numbers that fulfill your bitter prejudices against "welfare recipients". Because otherwise, why would the numbers matter to you?

My dislike for welfare has nothing to do with race and everything to do with self-reliance and fairness especially when one has been on longer than five years. In fact I'll go so far and say I dislike white welfare recipients more than black just because they have no prejudice/racism excuse, real or not, to get themselves out.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

It's sad you are posting numbers from 15 years ago. 1996 Congressional hearing testimony? Really? Maybe post something from the past 2-3 years? You know, after the financial crash, and the recession, that changed how many hundreds of thousands of people are on welfare??

Just to be clear again I came up with the fact African Americans are five times as likely to be on welfare by using YOUR source that gave me the 38% v. 37% and then 2010 census numbers for population breakdown according to race.