2008 Woodie Awards
Judge approves FAFSA aid denial
Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: News
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(U-WIRE) EUGENE, Ore. -- A federal judge recently dismissed a lobby group's lawsuit to abolish a drug conviction-related financial aid requirement that has denied aid to nearly 200,000 college students during the last decade.
Question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which asks whether a student has been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs while receiving federal student aid, prompted the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy to file a lawsuit last spring against U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to eliminate the provision.
Students who answer 'yes' are denied aid for at least a year or until they complete a rehabilitation program to battle their drug usage.
SSDP, a grassroots, student-run organization that "dares to resist the War on Drugs," alleged that the FAFSA question was unconstitutional, but U.S. District Judge Charles Kormann granted a government motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Oct. 27.
"Basically, we were thrown out of court," said SSDP Campaigns Director Tom Angell.
SSDP dubbed the provision the "Aid Elimination Penalty" because they said it kicks students out of school who rely on federal aid, Angell said.
SSDP argued that the FAFSA question violates the "double jeopardy" clause of the Fifth Amendment because "denial of educational loans to students convicted of a drug offense constitutes an additional criminal punishment," according to case documents.
Kormann disputed the group's claims, saying the Supreme Court has "long recognized that 'revocation of a privilege voluntarily granted ... is characteristically free of punitive criminal element.'"
"Ineligibility is automatic upon conviction of a controlled substances offense. In that respect, the behavior to which the ineligibility applies is already a crime," Kormann said in his 16-page dismissal document.
One of SSDP's main arguments centers on how no other FAFSA question inquires about criminal activity, so a student who commits a violent crime, such as rape or murder, can still receive government money instead of "a student caught with a single marijuana cigarette," Angell said.
Question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which asks whether a student has been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs while receiving federal student aid, prompted the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy to file a lawsuit last spring against U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to eliminate the provision.
Students who answer 'yes' are denied aid for at least a year or until they complete a rehabilitation program to battle their drug usage.
SSDP, a grassroots, student-run organization that "dares to resist the War on Drugs," alleged that the FAFSA question was unconstitutional, but U.S. District Judge Charles Kormann granted a government motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Oct. 27.
"Basically, we were thrown out of court," said SSDP Campaigns Director Tom Angell.
SSDP dubbed the provision the "Aid Elimination Penalty" because they said it kicks students out of school who rely on federal aid, Angell said.
SSDP argued that the FAFSA question violates the "double jeopardy" clause of the Fifth Amendment because "denial of educational loans to students convicted of a drug offense constitutes an additional criminal punishment," according to case documents.
Kormann disputed the group's claims, saying the Supreme Court has "long recognized that 'revocation of a privilege voluntarily granted ... is characteristically free of punitive criminal element.'"
"Ineligibility is automatic upon conviction of a controlled substances offense. In that respect, the behavior to which the ineligibility applies is already a crime," Kormann said in his 16-page dismissal document.
One of SSDP's main arguments centers on how no other FAFSA question inquires about criminal activity, so a student who commits a violent crime, such as rape or murder, can still receive government money instead of "a student caught with a single marijuana cigarette," Angell said.
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