NASA Sued Over Background Checks

In what looks like an over reaction to the 9/11 attacks, Homeland Security has made new rules for employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA, to insure no "terrorists" are working there.

On Tuesday, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers sued NASA and the California Institute of Technology on Thursday, challenging extensive new background checks that the space exploration center and other federal agencies began requiring in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The NASA employees have until September 28th to sign the authorization forms for the background checks or face "voluntary" dismissal on October 27th.

The lawsuit says NASA is violating the Constitution by calling on employees, everyone from janitors to visiting professors, to permit investigators to delve into medical, financial and past employment records, and to question friends and acquaintances about everything from their finances to sex lives. Those who refuse could lose their jobs, the suit says.

A 2004 Homeland Security presidential directive mandated new security badges for millions of federal workers and contractors. The lawsuit says that they are going well beyond what the directive intended, and I think I have to agree. After all, how many of the hijacker's, were NASA/JPL scientists, employees, or janitors? If I am not mistaken the answer is zero. The answer should be yes to the background checks, but these go well beyond even what the Army does for a top level security clearance, unless they too have changed their background checks.

Here is the Army's background check regulations for secret and top secret clearances:The U.S. Government conducts background investigations to establish that applicants for national security positions are eligible for the required security clearances. Within the U.S. Army Cadet Command, such background investigations shall be completed and favorable security clearance determinations made prior to commissioning contracted cadets. Exceptions will be made only on a case-by-case basis.

a. Within the continental United States, the DSS conducts personnel security investigations. Outside the continental United States, the DSS employs Military Intelligence (MI) special agents to conduct these investigations.

b. A personnel security investigation encompasses the following qualities of an individual:
(1) Honesty; (2) Trustworthiness; (3) Character; (4) Loyalty; (5) Financial Responsibility; and (6) Reliability.

All of these areas present a view of the individual's entire character to the appropriate DOD officials so that USACCF adjudicators have complete and accurate information on which to make an appropriate security determination.

c. The investigation generally includes inquiries of law enforcement files, financial checks, and review of pertinent records. Some investigations will include an interview with the applicant and/or the applicant's friends, co-workers, employers, neighbors, and other individuals, as appropriate.

d. The DSS conducts several different types of personnel security investigations depending on the type of clearance or access the individual requires. For contracted cadet purposes, the National Agency Check, Local Agency Check, and Local Credit Check (NACLC) investigation and the Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) for Secret and Top Secret security clearances, respectively, are discussed.

(1) The NACLC investigation is the minimum standard investigation for all individuals entering the Armed Forces. For a contracted cadet, the NACLC is the minimum investigation required prior to being commissioned and being granted a Secret security clearance.

(2) For a contracted cadet selected in a MOS requiring a Top Secret security clearance (i.e., Military Intelligence), a favorably completed SSBI is the standard investigation required prior to placement in the MOS.

The suit indicates that most of these employees are not even involved in classified work, so this is just one more example of the terrorist's "winning" against us, as their purpose was to change how we live our lives here, and day after day, we are reminded how much our lives have changed. The Bush administration has substituted overreaching "policing", for common sense, in nearly area off the "war on terror".


suit