The ruling was made in a lawsuit filed by two sisters who have since graduated from the Delaware Valley School District.

As a result of the ruling, the lawsuit seeking to block the drug testing will be allowed to proceed.

"What the Pennsylvania court did, is it said, 'Well, the Pennsylvania Constitution does recognize the privacy right.' That is, it affords the students a broader right of privacy than the U.S. Supreme Court held," said Robert N. Isseks, the lawyer representing the students.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed random testing of Oklahoma students in extracurricular activities. The ruling has led to other schools implementing random drug-testing policies.

But the Pennsylvania court said that the school district failed to show that its students have a drug problem, that the targeted group of students contributed to any drug problem, or that the testing policy would address whatever problem may exist.

The school district argued that the random testing of student leaders would set an example for the rest of the students.

However, in his 32-page opinion, Justice Ronald D. Castille wrote, "The theory apparently is that, even in the absence of any suspicion of drug or alcohol abuse, it is appropriate to single these students out and say, in effect: 'Choose one: your Pennsylvania constitutional right to privacy or the chess club.' What lesson does a program targeting the personal privacy of some but not all students, and lacking both individualized suspicion or any reasoned basis for a suspicionless search, teach our young?"

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