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Houston Chronicle Man sues judge over drug test for probationers /
Executive spent 44 days in jail although exam was inconclusive A Houston businessman is accusing a Montgomery County judge of violating the constitutional rights of drug court probationers by throwing them behind bars for inconclusive urine tests. In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Paul A. Burns, 46, of Willis said state District Judge K. Michael Mayes jails probationers without hearings for "dilute urine" samples. Burns, who was on probation for cocaine possession, ended up in the Montgomery County Jail for 44 days this summer after he passed a drug test with dilute urine, which means the sample did not have all of the usual properties. Dilute samples can result from a person trying to mask drug use or by consuming large amounts of liquids. Burns said he drank four or five cups of coffee that morning without eating. Mayes, who declined to comment Wednesday, oversees the "Stability, Achievement, Progress" or SAP Program, an adult recovery court for substance abuse cases. The program's general guidelines posted online, which were amended on Aug. 23, state that "a positive or dilute urinalysis, or a failure to submit, will result in immediate jail sanctions." It is unclear if this was the rule when Burns was jailed in July. The lawsuit, which also names Montgomery County and other unspecified defendants, further alleges that Burns was held in isolation because the judge would not allow him to communicate with his family. Burns is the chief executive of the Houston fencing company, Astro Fence. "I firmly believe that this is unconstitutional and this policy needs to be changed. I don't want it to happen to anyone else," he said during a news conference Wednesday outside Houston's federal courthouse. "I swore to myself every day that I was going to fix this problem when I got out because I have the finances to do it." Civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen said the drug court's criteria violates the law and is beyond the requirements of similar programs. "What the court is doing is avoiding the Constitution 100 percent - no notice, no opportunity to be heard," said Kallinen, who is representing Burns. "He was told he was coming in for another drug test, and they just arrested him and put him in jail, and he was there for 44 days without a hearing and without seeing a judge. He was just snatched." The lawsuit asks a federal judge to prevent Mayes from jailing probationers with dilute urine without a hearing or using dilute urine as the basis for jail time unless the drug court judge sets a maximum sentence. The suit also seeks financial damages for Burns. Kallinen also said Mayes should recuse himself from Burns' case.
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