Test Act

“ In pursuance of the requirements of section 7 of the civil-service act, competitive tests or examinations shall, as far as practicable and useful, be established to test fitness for promotion in any part of the civil service of the United States which has been or may hereafter be classified under the civil-service act. ”

“ Congress registered its dissatisfaction with this restricted scope of review by stating the proper test in the Taft-Hartley Act as one of 'substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole.' 61 Stat. ”

“ In cases where an employer has an existing program of mandatory physical examinations for employees or applicants, an issue arises as to whether the addition of drug testing constitutes a substantial change in the employees' terms and conditions of employment. In general, we conclude that it does constitute such a change. When conjoined with discipline, up to and including discharge, for refusing to submit to the test or for testing positive, the addition of a drug test substantially changes the nature and fundamental purpose of the existing physical examination. ”

“ Government, in substance, says: no question is raised by the Government concerning the validity of the literacy test provided for in the amendment under consideration as an independent standard, since the conclusion is plain that that test rests on the exercise of state judgment, and therefore cannot be here assailed either by disregarding the State's power to judge on the subject or by testing its motive in enacting the provision. ”

“ A person asserting a testing or laboratory error as an affirmative defense pursuant to this section shall have the burden to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the department, that a serious violation involving the exceedance of an effluent limitation was the result of unanticipated test interferences, sample contamination, analytical defects, or procedural deficiencies in sampling or other similar circumstances beyond the control of the permittee. ”

“ Although the Court rejects the defendants' attempt to invoke a higher standard, the Court recognizes that the true standard, reasonableness, is not a mechanical one. The nature of the material sought, and its location, are important elements in the application of the test. Although the scrupulous exactitude test does not apply, the Court has examined the facts and circumstances of this case with the utmost care in order to determine the reasonableness of the government's actions in conducting these searches. ”

“ They amount to a determination to avoid accountability. Some say we shouldn't pay for test development even though it's being done by an independent body. Some say the test will be misused, even though participation is voluntary and is clearly designed to show how students and schools are doing and to show the way toward improving them. ”

“ Prohibition of discriminatory use of test scores It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a respondent, in connection with the selection or referral of applicants or candidates for employment or promotion, to adjust the scores of, use different cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of, employment related tests on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. ”

“ The new test, says the State, is a uniform, objective, standardized 'citizenship' test administered to all prospective voters alike. Under it, according to the State, an applicant is 'required to indiscriminately draw one of ten cards. Each card has six multiple choice questions, four of which the applicant must answer correctly.' Confining itself to the allegations of the complaint, the District Court did not pass upon the validity of the new test, but did take it into consideration in formulating the decree. ”

“ Many colleges require such tests before permitting entrance and literally millions of us have voluntarily gone through the same, though a longer, routine in becoming blood donors. Likewise, we note that a majority of our States have either enacted statutes in some form authorizing tests of this nature or permit findings so obtained to be admitted in evidence. [3] We therefore conclude that a blood test taken by a skilled technician is not such 'conduct that shocks the conscience,' Rochin, supra, 342 U.S. at page 172, 72 S.Ct. ”

“ Such incriminating evidence may be an unavoidable by-product of the compulsion to take the test, especially for an individual who fears the extraction or opposes it on religious grounds. If it wishes to compel persons to submit to such attempts to discover evidence, the State may have to forgo the advantage of any testimonial products of administering the test-products which would fall within the privilege. ”

“ Since the members of the Advisory Committee, the Judicial Conference, and this Court who formulated the Federal Rules are presumably reasonable men, it follows that the integrity of the Federal Rules is absolute. Whereas the unadulterated outcome and forum-shopping tests may err too far toward honoring state rules, I submit that the Court's 'arguably procedural, ergo constitutional' test moves too fast and far in the other direction. ”

“ Still, there are some in Congress who, even as our children are heading back to school, are working to undermine the very progress in education our children are counting on. They have proposed an amendment that would prevent us from developing a common test for math and reading and, therefore, would prevent your school district or your State or your child from choosing to take the test. ”

“ It never has been found possible to lay down any infallible or all-inclusive test by the application of which it may be determined whether a given difference between the subjects of legislation is enough to justify the subjection of one and not the other to a particular form of disadvantage. ”

“ If the intention of the testator cannot be carried into effect, precisely in the mode at first contemplated by him, consistently with the rules of law, he has provided an alternative, which, with the aid of the act of the legislature, must remove all difficulty. ”

“ Moreover, a different test might be required in a statutory action by a public official, as opposed to a libel action by a public official or a statutory action by a private individual. Different considerations might arise concerning the degree of 'waiver' of the protection the State might afford. But the question whether the same standard should be applicable both to persons voluntarily and involuntarily thrust into the public limelight is not here before us. ”

“ So that the case distinctly raises the question as to whether a statute, in permitting certain competent men to serve, can lay down a test which absolutely prohibits other competent men from entering the same private employment. It would seem that to ask the question is to answer,-and the answer in no way denies the right of the state to require examinations to test the fitness and capacity of brakemen, firemen, engineers, and conductors to enter upon a service fraught with so much of risk to themselves and to the public. ”

“ Applicants for examination shall pay, either to the Department or to the designated testing service, a fee covering the cost of providing the examination. Failure to appear for the examination on the scheduled date, at the time and place specified, shall result in the forfeiture of the examination fee. (c) If an applicant neglects, fails, or refuses to take an examination, or fails to pass an examination for a license under this Act within 3 years after filing an application, the application shall be denied and the fee forfeited. ”

“ It could not reasonably be argued, and indeed respondent does not argue, that the administration of the blood test in this case was free of the constraints of the Fourth Amendment. Such testing procedures plainly constitute searches of 'persons,' and depend antecedently upon seizures of 'persons,' within the meaning of that Amendment.
Because we are dealing with intrusions into the human body rather than with state interferences with property relationships or private papers-'houses, papers, and effects'-we write on a clean slate. ”

“ If in a proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, it shall suspend the use of tests and devices in such State or political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate and for such period as it deems necessary. ”

“ They are not only the recognized fire tests of Great Britain, but they rank as universal standard tests for the whole of the civilized world, and Americans, just as much as Danes, Germans or Austrians, pride themselves when some product of their country has passed the official procedure of a test by the committee. The reports of the tests, which state facts only without giving criticisms or recommendations, are much appreciated by all who have the control of public works or the specification of appliances. ”

“ Drug Testing Programs.
(a) The head of each Executive agency shall establish a program to test for the use of illegal drugs by employees in sensitive positions. The extent to which such employees are tested and the criteria for such testing shall be determined by the head of each agency, based upon the nature of the agency's mission and its employees' duties, the efficient use of agency resources, and the danger to the public health and safety or national security that could result from the failure of an employee adequately to discharge his or her position. ”

“ Third Factor: The incorporating regulation specifies that only specific portions of the standard are incorporated by reference into law, specifically, Test Procedures A, B, and C, which justifies posting the specific text of those provisions. Id. Those test procedures, however, constitute a substantial portion of the standard republished by Defendant. Moreover, copying and republishing the standard’s background sections and appendix “are reasonable in relation to the purpose of the copying.” ”

“ The grade or standing of every competitor shall be determined under regulations made by the Commission, and each competitor shall be duly notified whether or not he is eligible for appointment.
2. No competitor who has failed to obtain an eligible standing shall be admitted to another test within six months from the date of failure unless he shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the Commission that at the time of his examination he was unable to do himself justice because of illness or other good cause. ”

“ Whether it will be possible under our form of government to carry out this provision of the fourteenth amendment may be doubted, but that it is fast becoming a question of live interest is certain. The educational test is a rational test, but it is rational only when the state makes an honest and diligent effort to equip every man to pass the test. ”

“ Thousands are undoubtedly such. To talk therefore of "admitting free-thinking" by removing tests, can only raise a smile in those who know intimately the working of the present system. Indeed, it has been well said, that if the religious nonconformists who are excluded from fellowships could hear the conversation of many who now hold them, they would be as much shocked as surprised at the fruits which the test-system is producing.'
It is easy to conceive of a case in which these arguments for the retention of tests might be urged with great force. ”

“ Examinations are suited in the first instance for the purpose for which they were originally designed in medieval universities—the test of technical and professional capacity; it has never been proposed to abolish qualifying examinations for doctors, pharmaceutical chemists, &c. ; the tests applied are (or should be) direct tests of capacity carried out under conditions as nearly as possible like those of actual practice. If a student can auscultate correctly, or make up a prescription, at an examination, he will in all probability be able to do so in other circumstances. ”

“ And while we're at it, let's work with teachers and principals to finally develop assessments that teach our kids to become more than just good test-takers. The goal of educational testing should be the same as medical testing - to diagnose a student's needs so you can help address them. Tests should not be designed as punishment for teachers and students, they should be used as tools to help prepare our children to grow and compete in a knowledge economy. Tests should support learning, not just accounting. ”

“ We recognize the difficulties that have always faced the trier of fact in these cases. We hope that the test that we lay down proves less onerous. The examiner is furnished a standard that permits consideration of criteria with which he has had considerable experience. While the applicant's words may differ, the test is simple of application. It is essentially an objective one, namely, does the claimed belief occupy the same place in the life of the objector as an orthodox belief in God holds in the life of one clearly qualified for exemption? ”

“ The standards shall require
that a laboratory issued a certificate under this section be
tested for each examination and procedure conducted within a
category of examinations or procedures for which it has
received a certificate, except for examinations and procedures
for which the Secretary has determined that a proficiency test
cannot reasonably be developed. ”