5TH CIRCUIT DENIES FORMER STUDENT'S APPEAL, REBUKES HIM FOR HIS
LANGUAGE

DALLAS - A 24-year-old man on Thursday lost his bid for monetary
damages he sought because of random drug tests he was subjected to
while a high school student in Tulia, Texas.

Hollister Gardner's lawsuit six years ago against the Tulia School
Board resulted in a ruling by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson in
December 2000 that the school district's mandatory drug testing policy
of students in extracurricular activities was unconstitutional.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Thursday
denied Gardner's appeal, noting that he did not outline in a brief any
claims he had for monetary damages. Because Hollister has since
graduated from the school, the instant appeal from Robinson's denial
of declaratory and injunctive relief is moot, the court ruled.

In a three-paragraph ruling, the court also rebuked Gardner for
"expletives and discussion bordering on profane" to support his
argument that teenagers are easily embarrassed by urinalysis drug testing.

"Hollister is warned that this court will not tolerate such language
in any future filings by Hollister," the 5th Circuit said in its ruling.

The court denied the Tulia school district's request to file a
supplemental brief, saying it was unnecessary.

Gardner, a straight-A student at Tulia High School, said in his 1997
lawsuit that mandatory testing to participate in the National Honor
Society violated his constitutional rights.

The district's policy had required all students involved in
extracurricular activities - about 80 percent of the student body - to
submit to random drug tests. After Robinson's ruling that the
suspicionless, random drug tests were unconstitutional, the school
district modified its policy to provide for testing of athletes only.

Among the defendants in Gardner's lawsuit was his father, Gary
Gardner, who was on the school board.