Lawsuit: Private probation company forced illegal drug tests
ATLANTA (AP) - A civil rights group says a private probation company illegally required people on probation for traffic offenses to submit to drug tests at their own expense.
The Southern Center for Human Rights on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against Sentinel Offender Services and one of the company's probation officers in north Georgia.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women who pleaded guilty to driving while unlicensed. Each was fined and placed on probation with Sentinel.
The lawsuit says a probation officer forced the women to urinate in a cup for drug testing that wasn't ordered by the judge. The lawsuit says a fee for each test was solely to profit the company.
A message seeking comment left at the Sentinel office that oversees Georgia was not immediately returned.