Students challenge policy restricting federal aid due to prior drug convictions

The Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, are challenging a law that strips college aid from students with prior drug convictions.
Started in 1998 by students at college campuses around the nation, the goal of the SSDP was to challenge the bill, which later became a law by Indiana Republican Mark Souder, that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions.
The bill has affected 200,000 college students that have mostly dropped out of college because they simply just couldn’t afford it.
“We are an organization that feels that the war on drugs is doing more harm than good when effecting things like financial aid,” said Tom Angell, campaign director of SSDP. “The law hurts society, it stops people who messed up once from moving on in their lives.”
The lawsuit ” SSDP vs. Spellings”, challenges the Secretary of the United States Department of Education. It claims the ban unconstitutionally punishes people twice for the same offense, violating the Double Jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
The ban also irrationally designates a class of people, those with drug convictions, as unworthy of educational aid, violating the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The Suit also claims the ban disproportionately affects working class students who rely on financial aid to curtail the costs of their education.
Wealthy students who can afford tuition are entirely insulated from the law, while those less well off risk losing access to education.
“Young people should not be punished twice for the same ‘youthful indiscretions’ many of our nation’s leaders got away with,” said Kris Krane, executive director SSDP. “Far too many students have lost their education, a collateral damage in the war on drugs. It’s time to stand and take our aid back.”
Latara Riley, a freshman from Orlando, Fla. majoring in mass communication agrees with Krane.
“I don’t think it’s right because if its in the past, let it stay in the pass,” she said. “Personally I feel that its just ‘The Man’ trying to keep them out of college.”
Interested students who want to become a part of the cause can visit www.ssdp.org/lawsuit to get more information.
Also those affected by the aid elimination penalty should e-mail [email protected] or call (202) 203-4414 to obtain further information about the class action lawsuit.