312
Opinion of the Court
citing responsibilities of the offices petitioners sought, the Court of Appeals perceived those "positions [as] particularly susceptible to the 'risks of bribery and blackmail against which the Government is entitled to guard.' " Ibid. (quoting Von Raab, 489 U. S., at 674).
Turning to petitioners' privacy interests, the Eleventh Circuit emphasized that the tests could be conducted in the office of the candidate's private physician, making the "intrusion here . . . even less than that approved in Von Raab." 73 F. 3d, at 1547. The court also noted the statute's reference to federally approved drug-testing guidelines. Ibid. The drug test itself would reveal only the presence or absence of indicia of the use of particular drugs, and not any other information about the health of the candidate. Furthermore, the candidate would control release of the test results: Should the candidate test positive, he or she could forfeit the opportunity to run for office, and in that event, nothing would be divulged to law enforcement officials. Ibid. Another consideration, the court said, is the reality that "candidates for high office must expect the voters to demand some disclosures about their physical, emotional, and mental fitness for the position." Ibid. Concluding that the State's interests outweighed the privacy intrusion caused by the required certification, the court held the statute, as applied to petitioners, not inconsistent with the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Ibid.1
Judge Barkett dissented. In her view, a balance of the State's and candidates' interests was not appropriate, for the State had failed to establish a special governmental need for the regime. "There is nothing so special or immediate about the generalized governmental interests involved here," she observed, "as to warrant suspension of the Fourth
1 The court also rejected equal protection and free speech pleas made by petitioners. 73 F. 3d, at 1547-1549. We hold § 21-2-140 incompatible with the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and do not reach petitioners' further pleas.
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