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MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Rick Scott has dropped further appeals aimed at reviving a law that would require welfare benefits applicants to submit to mandatory drug testing.
Scott's administration did not seek U.S. Supreme Court review by a Tuesday deadline. American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon says it means lower court rulings that the law is unconstitutional will stand.
U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven originally declared the 2011 law an unconstitutional search and seizure, a ruling upheld by a federal appeals court in December. The judges found no evidence of a pervasive drug problem among Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program applicants.
The ACLU challenged the law for an Orlando man who refused a urine test. Welfare drug testing was a top priority of Scott's first term.
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