LeBron v. Sec'y, Fla. Dep't of Children & Families

• Decision Date: 26 February 2013
• Docket Number: No. 11–15258.,11–15258.
• Citation: 710 F.3d 1202
• Parties: Luis W. LEBRON, Individually and as Class Representative, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

710 F.3d 1202

Luis W. LEBRON, Individually and as Class Representative, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 11–15258.

United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.

Feb. 26, 2013.

Randall Challen Berg, Jr., Joshua Aaron Glickman, Shawn Alex Heller, Florida Justice Institute, Inc., Maria Kayanan, Shalini Goel Agarwal, Randall C. Marshall, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Inc., Miami, FL, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Jesse Panuccio, Florida Dept. of Economic Opportunity, Marion Drew Parker, Florida Dept. of Children & Families, Lisa Marie Raleigh, Jason Vail, Atty. Gen.'s Office, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendant–Appellant.

Andrew Lynn Brasher, Atty. Gen.'s Office, Montgomery, AL, Edith E. Sheeks, Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities, Inc., Tallahassee, FL, Richard B. Rosenthal, The Law Offices of Richard B. Rosenthal, PA, Miami, FL, Robert Craig Buschel, Buschel Gibbons Daragjati, PL, Fort Lauderdale, FL, David T. Goldberg, Donahue Goldberg, LLP, New York City, for State of Alabama, State of Kansas, State of Michigan, State of Oklahoma, Disability Rights Florida, Center for Law and Social Policy et al., Florida's Children First, Inc., American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Amici Curiae.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before BARKETT and JORDAN, Circuit Judges, and HALL,^* District Judge.

BARKETT, Circuit Judge:

The Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (“State”) appeals from the district court's order enjoining the State of Florida from requiring Luis W. Lebron to submit to a suspicionless drug test pursuant to Section 414.0652 of the Florida Statutes, as a condition for receipt of government-provided monetary assistance for which he was otherwise qualified.

Lebron is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Navy, college student, single unmarried father and sole caretaker of his young child. Lebron resides with and also cares for his disabled mother, who subsists on Social Security Disability benefits. In July 2011, Lebron applied for financial assistance benefits for himself and his son through Florida's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (“TANF”), which, if he were eligible, would have provided him with a maximum of $241 per month to assist in the support of himself and his child.

TANF is a block grant program in which the federal government provides states with funds to assist needy families with short term financial assistance and with finding employment. The State, through the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”), has been administering the TANF program since its creation as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996. Lebron met all of the program's eligibility requirements, but DCF ultimately denied his application because Lebron refused to submit to Florida's newly-enacted, mandatory drug testing, which is a final condition of eligibility for TANF benefits in Florida.

Florida's mandatory drug-testing requirement for all TANF applicants was enacted in May 2011. SeeFla. Stat. § 414.0652 (2011). Under the statute, when an individual applies, he is notified that he will be required to submit to and pay for drug testing as a condition of receiving TANF benefits. Id. § 414.0652(2)(a). If the applicant submits to the drug testing and tests negative, the cost of the test will be reimbursed to the applicant through a one-time increase in his TANF benefits. Id. If the applicant tests positive for controlled substances, he is ineligible to receive TANF benefits for one year, id. § 414.0652(1)(b), but can reapply in six months if he completes a substance abuse treatment program and passes another drug test, both at his own expense, id. § 414.0652(1)(j). Although an adult applicant who fails the drug test is ineligible for TANF benefits, the applicant's dependent child may still receive TANF benefits so long as the adult designates an appropriate protective payee to receive the child's benefits. Id. § 414.0652(3). However, the individual who wishes to serve as the protective payee must also submit to and pass mandatory drug testing to receive benefits for the child, even though he is not requesting any TANF benefits for himself. Id. § 414.0652(3)(c).

In addition to the mandatory drug test, applicants are required to sign a release acknowledging their consent to be tested. Id. § 414.0652(2)(e). At the time Lebron applied for TANF benefits, he was notified of Florida's mandatory drug testing requirement and that he was required to sign the release before DCF would allow him to proceed with the application process. Lebron signed the release, completed the application process and was found eligible for TANF benefits. However, he did not submit to the drug test, but instead filed this lawsuit seeking to enjoin the enforcement of Florida's mandatory suspicionless drug testing as a violation of his and all other TANF applicants' Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The districtcourt granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the drug testing statute against Lebron and the State agreed to discontinue its drug testing regime as to all TANF applicants until this litigation is fully resolved.

I. Standard of Review

Although we review the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction for an abuse of discretion, underlying questions of law are reviewed de novo, and the district court's factual determinations cannot be disturbed unless clearly erroneous, see United States v. Alabama, 691 F.3d 1269, 1281 (11th Cir.2012). To grant a preliminary injunction, the district court must determine that the moving party has established: “(1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; (2) that irreparable injury will be suffered unless the injunction is issued; (3) the threatened injury to the moving party outweighs whatever damage the proposed injunction might cause the non-moving party; and (4) if issued, the injunction would not be adverse to the public interest.” Keeton v. Anderson–Wiley, 664 F.3d 865, 868 (11th Cir.2011). Here, the State challenges only the district court's conclusion that Lebron has shown a “substantial likelihood of success on the merits” of his claim that Florida's mandatory suspicionless drug testing of TANF applicants violates his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. Accordingly, in reviewing the district court's grant of the preliminary injunction, we do not resolve the merits of the constitutional claim, but instead address whether the district court abused its discretion in concluding that Lebron is substantially likely to succeed in establishing that Florida's drug testing regime for TANF applicants violates his Fourth Amendment rights.

II. Discussion

The Fourth Amendment protects the rights of individuals “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. It is undisputed and well-established that government-mandated drug testing is a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. See e.g., Bd. of Educ. v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822, 828, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002); Chandler v. Miller, 520 U.S. 305, 313, 117 S.Ct. 1295, 137 L.Ed.2d 513 (1997); Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646, 652, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995); Nat'l Treasury Emps. Union v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 656, 665, 109 S.Ct. 1384, 103 L.Ed.2d 685 (1989); Skinner v. Ry. Labor Execs.' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 614–15, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989). Thus, the question before us is whether Florida's mandatory, suspicionless drug-testing of all TANF applicants is a constitutionally reasonable search under the Fourth Amendment. See Skinner, 489 U.S. at 618–19, 109 S.Ct. 1402 (“To hold that the Fourth Amendment is applicable to ... drug and alcohol testing ... is only to begin the inquiry into the standards governing such intrusions.”).

Ordinarily, to be reasonable, a search must be based on individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. See e.g., Chandler, 520 U.S. at 308, 117 S.Ct. 1295 (“[The Fourth Amendment's] restraint on government conduct generally bars officials from undertaking a search or seizure absent individualized suspicion.”). In most cases, this standard is met only when a search “is accomplished pursuant to a judicial warrant issued upon probable cause.” Skinner, 489 U.S. at 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402.

However, the Supreme Court has upheld as reasonable searches without a showing of individualized suspicion in certain very limited and exceptional circumstances.See New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 351, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985) (Blackmun, J., concurring in judgment) (explaining that a court may substitute its own reasonableness balancing for that of the Fourth Amendment's warrant and probable cause requirement only in those “exceptional circumstances” where special needs have been established). But to establish these limited and exceptional circumstances that justify the suspension of Fourth Amendment protections, the Supreme Court has required the government to make a threshold showing that there are “special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, [which] make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable.” Skinner, 489 U.S. at 619, 109 S.Ct. 1402 (internal quotation omitted).¹ Not only must the government identify the special needs that make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable but it must establish that those special needs are “substantial.” See Chandler, 520 U.S. at 318, 117 S.Ct. 1295 (“Our precedents establish that the proffered special need for drug testing must be substantial.”). Only if the government is able to make a showing of substantial special needs will the court thereafter “undertake a context-specific inquiry, examining...