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THE QUESTION: Does testing for performance enhancing drugs violate the Fourth Amendment?

THE FOURTH AMENDMENT: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Here are some discussion points/questions to stimulate your thinking.

• Is it right for players to have to be tested whether or not they are suspected of using performance enhancing drugs?
• By law, employees can be tested for drugs in the interest of public safety, as exceptions to the fourth amendment protection. This would include airline pilots, railroad engineers, and cross-country truck drivers. Where do professional athletes fit into this?
• U.S. Olympic athletes are tested without probable cause, but they agree to be tested year round through membership in the governing bodies of their various sports.
• Is it fair for Congress to in effect demand that professional athletes serve as role models, and thus be subject to a "stripping" of their Constitutional protection?
• The Clean Sports Act, which Senator John McCain will spearhead in the Senate, includes what it calls a "fairness to players" provision. "The legislation," the sponsors say, "guarantees that players who test positive receive their due-process rights, including the right to notice, a fair, timely and expedited hearing, the right to be represented by counsel, and the right to appeal."
• According to Akhail Amar, a professor at Yale Law School, if the "Clean Sports Act" is passed and tested in court and ultimately reaches the Supreme Court, the justices would most likely base their decision on a set of criteria:
  1. "Will the results be shared with law enforcement?"
  2. "How intrusive is collection of the samples?"
  3. "Is there a special reason for targeting this group?"
  4. "Does this group arguably have a lower expectation of privacy because of what they do? Athletes are already subjected to physical regimens."