Does the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Drug Testing Program Test Positive If It Is Subjected to Constitutional Scrutiny?

• NCJ Number: 119162
• Journal: Drake Law Review Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987-1988) Pages: 83-102
• Author(s): J V Fonti
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The constitutional law resulting from recent judicial decisions is applied to constitutional issues related to drug testing of college athletes by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Abstract

The NCAA's drug testing program can be subject to constitutional challenges only if the NCAA is considered to be a State actor. Although the NCAA is not a public institution, several judicial decisions have considered it to be a State actor. They have reasoned that it receives the majority of its funding from public institutions, that public institutions have a pervasive degree of control over its rules and regulations, and that it performs public functions. Although drug abuse is a major social problem, some of the techniques involved in the NCAA drug testing program are unconstitutional. Challenges are possible under the Fourth Amendment, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the right to privacy embodied in the Bill of Rights. However, the program appears to meet due process requirements, because students receive notice of the program and are given the opportunity to appeal a positive test result. Efforts by the NCAA or other bodies to address illicit drug use should take place within the constraints of the Constitution. 177 footnotes.