It is a local case. The towns of La Crescenta, Montrose and La Cañada Flintridge are full of JPL employees.
These employees are asked to fill out a series of intrusive investigative forms and broad privacy waivers. Once signed, the waivers would allow any federal investigator to interview anyone — friends, family, physicians — on any subject. The waivers remain in effect during the employee’s employment at JPL and for two years after employment.
In this post 9/11 era, it is easy to forget that it is unusual to require privacy waivers of low-risk employees who work in the public domain. These JPL employees do not work in areas which trigger the need for a security clearance, yet the forms are more intrusive than a normal security background investigation. Despite this, the employees will not receive security clearances at the end of the process.
All pain and no gain.
The 28 plaintiffs are low-risk employees. Their work is published in the public domain. They have great track records in pure research. Some have worked for JPL for over 30 years. All have worked there for over 20 years. They accepted employment knowing that their positions did not require a security clearance.
They say that they do not want to answer questions about their sex lives, psychological history and drinking habits and financial matters, particularly where their work poses no danger to the security of the United States of America.
The 28 plaintiffs are men and women of integrity. They have put their jobs on the line. They did this as a matter of principle — to prevent unjustified intrusions into people’s private lives.
ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is an attorney and local resident. Her column appears weekly in the La Cañada Valley Sun. You may listen to the oral argument in Nelson vs. NASA at http://hspd12jpl.org.
