Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-530.pdf
Page Number: 8

4 

NASA v. NELSON 

Opinion of the Court 

informed  employees  that  anyone  failing  to  complete  the 
NACI  process  by  October  2007  would  be  denied  access  to 
JPL and would face termination by Cal Tech. 

B 
The  NACI  process  has  long  been  the  standard  back-
ground  investigation  for  prospective  civil  servants.    The 
process  begins  when  the  applicant  or  employee  fills  out  a 
form  questionnaire.    Employees  who  work  in  “non-
sensitive”  positions  (as  all  respondents  here  do)  complete
Standard  Form  85  (SF–85).  Office  of  Personnel  Manage-
ment  (OPM),  Standard  Form  85,  Questionnaire  for  Non-
Sensitive Positions, App. 88–95.2 

Most of the questions on SF–85 seek basic biographical
information:  name,  address,  prior  residences,  education,
employment  history,  and  personal  and  professional  refer-
ences.  The  form  also  asks  about  citizenship,  selective-
service  registration,  and  military  service.    The  last  ques-
tion  asks  whether  the  employee  has  “used,  possessed,
supplied,  or  manufactured  illegal  drugs”  in  the  last  year. 
Id., at 94.  If the answer is yes, the employee must provide 
details,  including  information  about  “any  treatment  or 
counseling  received.” 
Ibid.    A  “truthful  response,”  the
form  notes,  cannot  be  used  as  evidence  against  the  em-
ployee in a criminal proceeding.  Ibid.  The employee must 
certify  that  all  responses  on  the  form  are  true  and  must
sign  a  release  authorizing  the  Government  to  obtain  per-
sonal  information  from  schools,  employers,  and  others 
during its investigation. 

—————— 

2 For public-trust and national-security positions, more detailed forms
are required.  See OPM, Standard Form 85P, Questionnaire for Public 
Trust  Positions,  online  at  http://www.opm.gov/Forms/pdf_fill/sf85p.pdf;
(all Internet materials as visited Jan. 13, 2011, and available in Clerk
of  Court’s  case  file);  OPM,  Standard  Form  86,  Questionnaire  for 
National  Security  Positions,  online  at  http://www.opm.gov/Forms/ 
pdf_fill/sf86.pdf.