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ACLU Fights Law Denying Drug Convicts College Aid
Group will sue federal government to provide financial aid to students who have been convicted of drug offenses
Anne VanderMey | Michigan Daily | 12/01/2005

Potheads, beware — marijuana is not only bad for your lungs and your pocketbook, it can also take away your financial aid if you’re caught.

But the American Civil Liberties Union in conjunction with various civil rights and student rights groups has announced that it will file suit against the federal government based on its denial of financial aid to students who have been convicted of a drug offense.

A section of the Higher Education Act, up for renewal this month, has rendered an estimated 175,000 students ineligible for aid, according to a recent study released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The provision denies aid to anyone who has been convicted of even a minor drug offense.

Dan Berger, a spokesman for the ACLU, said it resorted to legal action because its previous attempts at lobbying had been largely fruitless.

“It’s hard (for Congress) to do anything that’s not completely draconian on drug policy because there’s so much fear of seeming soft on drugs,” Berger said. He added that because the courts doesn’t face that political pressure, the ACLU may have better luck with the suit than it had with lobbying.

Adam Wolf, an attorney for the ACLU, said the lawsuit has good chances in court because it makes strong claims against denying education to drug offenders. He said the suit will allege the act violates at least three provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including the Equal Protection Clause, the due process clause and the double jeopardy clause.

The lawsuit comes at a time when Congress is already looking at revising the Higher Education Act to cater to criticisms that it does not serve as a deterrent to drug use because it is retroactive in its application.

Currently, a college student can be stripped of his financial aid even if he was convicted of a drug offense in high school and not in college.

“It’s unfair that it doesn’t give notice to people of what the exact penalties for a crime are. … Only later does Congress say, ‘Oh, we’re going to tack on additional penalties now,’” Wolf said.

Alexa Marrero, spokeswoman for Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Education Committee, said she agrees that the provision is being incorrectly applied because it considered past offenses when taking away financial aid.

For these reasons, resolutions are likely to pass in both the House and the Senate that would make the act applicable only to those students who are convicted of a drug offense while they are receiving financial aid.

But even if these resolutions pass, alleviating concerns that the act’s retroactive application is unfair, the ACLU will still file a lawsuit to stop any stripping of financial aid from drug offenders.

“(The provision leaves) tens of thousands of students behind,” said Tom Angell, campaigns director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which will be a partner in the suit.

Angell said that regardless of the success of the suit, he hopes it will provide additional pressure on Congress.

“Even if we don’t end up winning in court, certainly it’s going to raise the profile of the issue,” he said.

The ACLU is currently searching for student plaintiffs who were affected by the provision to bring the case to court.

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