Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jul 2006
Source: Bismarck Tribune (ND)
Copyright: 2006 The Bismarck Tribune
Contact:  http://www.bismarcktribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/47
Author: Dale Wetzel, AP
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

COURT RESTORES DRUG TESTS IN METH CASES

North Dakota's Supreme Court has reinstated a law that requires 
methamphetamine defendants to assent to random drug testing, at their 
own expense, if they're freed on bail. A Fargo judge had declared the 
provision unconstitutional.

East Central District Judge Steven McCullough used a procedure that 
was "not conducive to reasoned decision-making" in ruling the law 
should not be enforced, the state Supreme Court justices said in a 
unanimous opinion.

"Our jurisprudence for deciding constitutional issues requires an 
orderly process for the development of constitutional claims, which 
. was not followed in this case," Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle 
wrote in the court's decision Thursday.

The case affects a law passed by the Legislature last year, which 
says people who are charged with methamphetamine crimes must agree to 
pay for their own random drug tests if they are granted bail.

The issue arose when Brent Alan Hansen, of Fargo, made his initial 
court appearance last October on four drug charges, including two 
felony methamphetamine charges.

McCullough asked Hansen's court-appointed attorney, Steven Mottinger, 
whether he wanted to question whether the law that required testing 
for his client as a condition of bail was constitutional.

Mottinger quickly took the hint. Later that day, McCullough issued a 
written opinion saying the law encroached on the judicial system's 
own rules for granting bail. The law also allows police to conduct a 
search without providing reasons to justify it, the judge concluded.

In Hansen's case, McCullough set $5,000 bail and excluded the 
drug-testing requirement from a list of conditions Hansen had to 
obey. As it turned out, Hansen never posted bail. He pleaded guilty 
to several charges.

VandeWalle said the Supreme Court's ruling does not affect Hansen's 
case. Instead, the high court's decision Thursday used its 
supervisory authority to vacate McCullough's ruling, which means it 
no longer has any effect.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman