[Infowarrior] - Scientists sue NASA, Caltech over deep new background checks

[Richard Forno]

 Scientists sue NASA, Caltech over deep new background checks

The Associated Press
Thursday, August 30, 2007

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/30/america/NA-GEN-US-NASA-Background-
Checks.php

PASADENA, California: 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 lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by 28
plaintiffs. Many have worked on such projects as the Mars rovers, the
Galileo probe to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn, but none are
involved in classified work, according to the suit. It seeks class-action
status to represent similar JPL employees.

Caltech was sued because it manages JPL for NASA and employs its staff. The
suit also named the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is involved in
promulgating federal identification standards.

"It's our policy not to comment on matters in litigation," said JPL
spokeswoman Veronica McGregor.

A 2004 Homeland Security presidential directive mandated new security badges
for millions of federal workers and contractors. In order to receive new
"smart" badges for access to buildings and computers, they must fill out a
form online about employment history, past residences and any illegal drug
use. The requirements apply to everyone from janitors to visiting
professors.

The suit claims the directive was concerned "exclusively with the
establishment of a common identification standard" and "contemplates no
additional background investigation or suitability determination beyond that
already required by law."

But according to the lawsuit, the Commerce Department and NASA instituted
requirements that employees and contractors permit sweeping background
checks to qualify for credentials and refusal would mean the loss of their
jobs.

NASA calls on employees 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, according
to the suit. The requirements apply to everyone from janitors to visiting
professors.

The suit claims violations of the U.S. Constitution's 4th Amendment
protection against unreasonable search and seizure, 14th Amendment
protection against invasion of the right to privacy, the Administrative
Procedure Act, the Privacy Act, and rights under the California
Constitution.

Those in more sensitive positions are asked to disclose financial records,
list foreign trips and give the government permission to view their medical
history.

Workers also must sign a waiver giving investigators access to virtually all
personal information.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include senior research scientist Robert Nelson, a
27-year veteran who leads NASA's New Millennium Program which tests or
validates new technology NASA will use in space; William Bruce Banerdt,
project scientist for the Mars Exploration Rovers; and Julia Bell, a senior
engineer who has served on the navigation team for the Mars Odyssey and MER
missions, among others.

The lawsuit was announced at a press conference at the Pasadena offices of
their lawyers. A group of the plaintiffs who attended described their
situation as having to choose between leaving jobs they love and giving up
their constitutional rights.

Attorney Dan Stormer said the employees were being forced to "voluntarily"
sign forms opening up every detail of their personal lives to federal
scrutiny for two years whether or not they keep their jobs.

Plaintiff Susan Foster, a technical writer and editor at JPL for nearly 40
years, said she will resign before the badges are required, and that there
were members of the clerical staff who were too "frightened" about losing
their jobs to come forward.

"They don't tell you what they're looking for, they don't tell you when
they're looking for it, they won't tell us what they're doing with the
data," she said of the background checks.

Dennis Byrnes, a flight dynamics engineer who has worked on trajectory
designs for Galileo and the Apollo moon landings, said he was afraid the
requirements would prompt people to "flee" government service.

The plan is a "flawed promise of security at the expense of freedom," he
said.

A hearing was set for Sept. 24 on a request for a preliminary injunction in
advance of a Sept. 28 deadline by which JPL employees must fill out forms
authorizing the background checks. Employees who don't meet the deadline
will be barred from JPL and will be "voluntarily terminated" as of Oct. 27.

According to the lawsuit, many of the plaintiffs have been employed at JPL
for decades, and none work on classified or national security materials or
issues, and none have security clearances.

"Many of the plaintiffs only agreed to work for NASA with the understanding
that they would not have to work on classified materials or to undergo any
type of security clearance," the suit said.

Data collected from NASA missions and instruments by those plaintiffs who
are researchers is in the public domain and shared with the scientific
community, the suit said.

"Indeed, many of the plaintiffs have elected to work only on non-classified
work expressly so their research can be subject to peer review, (and) they
can collaborate with the best scientists worldwide and publish their
results," it said.

In June, JPL workers who consider the background checks unnecessary and
intrusive aired their complaints before NASA Administrator Michael Griffin.

Griffin said that it was a "privilege to work within the federal system, not
a right" and that he would carry out the order unless it was overturned in
court, according to a video of the meeting obtained by The Associated Press.

JPL, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles,
prides itself on its university atmosphere. Unlike other NASA centers, JPL,
has operated for decades under contract by Caltech.

But the 177-acre (72-hectare) campus and its buildings belong to NASA. To
enter the grounds, workers flash identification badges at two checkpoints,
and guards randomly search cars.