A divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday invalidated a Michigan program that required welfare applicants and recipients to submit to drug tests.

Under the Michigan program, people applying for welfare through the state's Family Independence Agency would be tested for illegal drug use, and 20 percent of those receiving welfare assistance would be randomly tested every six months.

....The ACLU sued on behalf of all Michigan welfare recipients, and U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts issued a restraining order to stop the testing, saying it likely violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Roberts' decision in October, saying the program was based on a legitimate need to protect the children of recipients and the public. But on Wednesday, the full court changed course and affirmed Roberts' ruling.

The ACLU hails the ruling.

It was a long time coming, but this ruling affirms that being poor is not a crime. Low-income parents should not be required to choose between providing for their children and relinquishing their privacy rights," said Kary Moss, Executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan and an attorney in the case. ....In the five weeks that the program was in effect, the drug tests were positive in only eight percent of the cases, a percentage that is consistent with drug use in the general population. Of 268 people tested, only 21 tested positive for drugs and all but three were for marijuana.

Michigan is the only state that had such a program.