Supreme Court rules random urinalysis is unconstitutional

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that requiring people who are arrested for driving under the influence to submit to random urinalysis tests as a condition of release is unconstitutional.

The case involves three people arrested in 2015 in Spokane County — Cortney Blomstrom, Brooke Button and Christopher Cooper — for driving under the influence. Each defendant was ordered to participate in random urinalysis testing as a condition of pretrial release.

All three challenged the conditions with the Spokane County Superior Court, which denied their requests.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday reversed that decision. The case was returned to the Superior Court for further proceedings in a decision written by Justice Charles Wiggins and signed by five justices.

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