by roberthuffstutter

Question by iluvthePhillies: Why doesn’t the 5th Amendment give criminals the right to refuse to submit to a court-ordered drug test?
For those of you who don’t understand my question, HERE ARE THE FACTS:
1. The 5th Amendment says that “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”, which is another way of saying “you have the right to not incriminate yourself”
2. Anybody who submits to a drug test is committing an act of self-incrimination
3. The Exclusionary Rule states that evidence obtained by illegal or unconstitutional means cannot be used against the suspect in question
Therefore, we can safely assume that any criminal who is asked to submit to a drug test can say “I plea the 5th Amendment” and refuse to submit to a drug test. We can also assume that if the authorities drug test someone by force, they cannot use a positive test against the suspect cuz doing so would violate the suspect’s 5th Amendment rights and as such ALSO violates the Exlusionary Rule. It all seems perfectly straightforward and simple, but clearly this is not the case cuz people who refuse a drug test automatically get arrested. Can someone explain to me why the 5th Amendment doesn’t give ppl the right to refuse to take a urine test or any other type of drug test?

Best answer:

Answer by |[Sacred]|
Because you are not testifying. You have evidence that needs proof. It’s like a DNA test in a murder trial. You don’t have to testify but you do give a DNA sample for proof.

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