Employees Fighting Against Background, Drug Checks
A group of Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) employees in California may have won at least a temporary
victory in their fight against a new federal background check they
say violates their constitutional rights.
According to The Associated Press, US District Court Judge Otis
Wright says he wants a balance between workers’ rights and
national security. So, he plans to temporarily bar the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from asking JPL workers
during background checks whether or not they’ve used
drugs.
"I don’t want to see the employees hurt... but I want the
security of this nation preserved." says Wright. "I don’t
want any sleepers infiltrating NASA or JPL."
Judge Wright is expected to issue a written order later this
week. He’s already set an October 19 hearing where
he’ll decide whether to grant a broader injunction stopping
NASA from asking other personal questions.
As ANN reported earlier this
year, 28 scientists, engineers and staff at JPL
in Pasadena, CA, filed a lawsuit in late August against NASA and
the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) challenging the
new background checks. The plaintiffs are employees of Caltech,
which manages JPL for NASA.
The suit claims the checks violate their rights by asking all
employees to grant permission for the government to investigate
everything from their financial records to medical records -- and
even asking them if they’ve ever used drugs. Lawyers for the
employees say their clients object to divulging past drug use
because they’re worried the information could fall into the
wrong hands.
The new background checks were instituted in 2004 after
President Bush, in the wake of 9/11, signed an executive order
requiring all government agencies to issue new identification
badges to millions of civil servants and contractors accessing
federal buildings and computers. In order for workers to obtain a
new badge, they must be fingerprinted, provide personal
information, and sign a waiver allowing for exhaustive
investigations.
"There is really no need for this," says attorney Dan Stormer.
He says that most of the workers have been at JPL for decades and
had their identities verified without exhaustive background
checks.
Meanwhile, NASA lawyer Vesper Mei says JPL is not the only
agency requiring the background checks and that all federal
agencies are being asked to carry out the presidential order.
The AP reports the JPL employees have until Friday, October 5,
to authorize the background checks or they’ll be "voluntarily
terminated" as of October 27.