Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-530.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2010 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued.
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINI-

STRATION ET AL. v. NELSON ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE NINTH CIRCUIT 

No. 09–530.  Argued October 5, 2010—Decided January 19, 2011 

The  National  Aeronautics  and  Space  Administration  (NASA)  has  a 
workforce of both federal civil servants and Government contract em-
ployees.  Respondents are contract employees at NASA’s Jet Propul-
sion  Laboratory  (JPL),  which  is  operated  by  the  California  Institute
of  Technology  (Cal  Tech).    Respondents  were  not  subject  to  Govern-
ment  background  checks  at  the  time  they  were  hired,  but  that 
changed when the President ordered the adoption of uniform identifi-
cation  standards  for  both  federal  civil  servants  and  contractor  em-
ployees.  The  Department of Commerce  mandated that contract em-
ployees with long-term access to federal facilities complete a standard
background check, typically the National Agency Check with Inquir-
ies  (NACI),  by  October  2007.    NASA  modified  its  contract  with  Cal 
Tech  to  reflect  the  new  requirement,  and  JPL  announced  that  em-
ployees who did not complete the NACI process in time would be de-
nied access to JPL and face termination by Cal Tech. 

The  NACI  process,  long used  for  prospective  civil  servants,  begins 
with the employee filling out a standard form (here, Standard Form
85,  the  Questionnaire  for  Non-Sensitive  Positions  (SF–85)).    SF–85 
asks  whether  an  employee  has  “used,  possessed,  supplied,  or  manu-
factured illegal drugs” in the last year.  If so, the employee must pro-
vide details, including information about “treatment or counseling re-
ceived.”  The  employee  must  also  sign  a  release  authorizing  the 
Government to obtain personal information from schools, employers, 
and  others  during  its  investigation.    Once  SF–85  is  completed,  the
Government  sends  the  employee’s  references  a  questionnaire  (Form 
42)  that  asks  open-ended  questions  about  whether  they  have  “any 
reason  to  question”  the  employee’s  “honesty  or  trustworthiness,”  or