Students for Sensible Drug Policy V. Spellings

This class action suit was filed in United States District Court in the District of South Dakota, Northern Division. It challenges the legality of the Higher Education Act (HEA) Aid Elimination Provision passed in 2000 that requires the Department of Education to deny federal student aid to drug offenders.

Currently, students are barred from receiving federal financial aid to pay for higher education expenses solely because they were convicted of a drug offense. While any non-drug offender, from a murderer to a shoplifter, can receive financial aid, an individual who is caught with any amount of a controlled substance, including a small amount of marijuana, is automatically denied aid by the federal government.

The HEA Aid Elimination Provision not only imposes harsh personal consequences on would-be students, but it exacts a serious societal toll. The law interferes with the objectives of drug treatment, drug prevention, and criminal rehabilitation by denying a higher education and its attendant economic benefits to those convicted of drug offenses.