Source: https://openjurist.org/360/us/474
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:21:25+00:00

Document:
Neil M. McELROY, Thomas S. Gates, Jr., and Robert B. Anderson.
Mr. Carl W. Berueffy, Washington, D.C., for the petitioner.
Mr. George Cochran Doub, Washington, D.C., for the respondents.
This case involves the validity of the Government's revocation of security clearance granted to petitioner, an aeronautical engineer employed by a private manufacturer which produced goods for the armed services. Petitioner was discharged from his employment solely as a consequence of the revocation because his access to classified information was required by the nature of his job. After his discharge, petitioner was unable to secure employment as an aeronautical engineer and for all practical purposes that field of endeavor is now closed to him.
Petitioner was vice president and general manager of Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO), a business devoted primarily to developing and manufacturing various mechanical and electronic products. He began this employment in 1937 soon after his graduation from the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics and, except for a brief leave of absence, he stayed with the firm until his discharge in 1953. He was first employed as a junior engineer and draftsman. Because of the excellence of his work he eventually became a chief executive officer of the firm. During his career with ERCO, he was credited with the expedited development of a complicated electronic flight simulator and with the design of a rocket launcher, both of which were produced by ERCO and long used by the Navy.
On January 23, 1952, petitioner, with counsel, appeared before the IERB. He was questioned in detail concerning his background and the information disclosed in the IERB letter. In response to numerous and searching ues tions he explained in substance that specific 'suspect' persons with whom he was said to have associated were actually friends of his ex-wife. He explained in some detail that during his first marriage, which lasted from 1942 through 1947, his then wife held views with which he did not concur and was friendly with associates and other persons with whom he had little in common. He stated that these basic disagreements were the prime reasons that the marriage ended in failure. He attributed to his then wife his attendance at the dinner, his membership in a bookshop association which purportedly was a 'front organization, and the presence in his home of 'Communist' publications. He denied categorically that he had ever been a 'Communist' and he spoke at length about his dislike for 'a theory of Government which has for its object the common ownership of property.' Lastly, petitioner explained that his visits to persons in various foreign embassies (including the Russian Embassy) were made in connection with his attempts to sell ERCO's products to their Governments. Petitioner's witnesses, who included top-level executives of ERCO and a number of military officers who had worked with petitioner in the past, corroborated many of petitioner's statements and testified in substance that he was a loyal and discreet citizen. These top-level executives of ERCO, whose right to clearance was never challenged, corroborated petitioner's testimony concerning his reasons for visiting the Russian Embassy.
The Government presented no witnesses. It was obvious, however, from the questions posed to petitioner and to his witnesses, that the Board relied on confidential reports which were never made available to petitioner. These reports apparently were compilations of statements taken from various persons contacted by an investigatory agency. Petitioner had no opportunity to confront and question persons whose statements reflected adversely on him or to confront the government investigators who took their statements. Moreover, it seemed evident that the Board itself had never questioned the investigators and had never seen those persons whose statements were the subject of their reports.
On January 29, 1952, the IERB, on the basis of the testimony given at the hearing and the confidential reports, reversed the action of the PSB and informed petitioner and ERCO that petitioner was authorized to work on Secret contract work.
Petitioner was again advised that the revocation of his security clearance was based on incidents occurring between 1942 and 1947, including his associations with alleged Communists, his visits with officials of the Russian Embassy, and the presence in his house of Communist literature.
Petitioner was subjected to an intense examination similar to that which he experienced before the IERB in 1952. During the course of the examination, the Board injected new subjects of inquiry and made it evident that it was relying on various investigatory reports and statements of confidential informants which were not made available to petitioner.16 Petitioner reiterated in great detail the explanations previously given before the IERB. He was subjected to intense cross-examination, however, concerning reports that he had agreed with the views held by his exwife.
Petitioner again presented a number of witnesses who testified that he was loyal, that he had spoken approvingly of the United States and its economic system, that he was a valuable engineer, and that he had made valuable and significant contributions to this country's war efforts during World War II and the Korean War.
Soon after the conclusion of the hearing, the EIPSB notified petitioner that it had affirmed the Secretary's action and that it had decided that the granting of clearance to petitioner for access to classified information was 'not clearly consistent with the interests of national security.' Petitioner requested that he be furnished with a detailed statement of findings supporting the Board's decision. He was informed, however, that security considerations prohibited such disclosure.17 On September 16, 1955, petitioner requested review by the Industrial Personnel Security Review Board.18 On March 12, 1956, almost three years after the Secretary's action and nearly one year after the second hearing, he received a latter from the Director of the Office of Industrial Personnel Security Review informing him that the EIPSB had found that from 1942—1947 petitioner associated closely with his then wife and her friends, knowing that they were active in behalf of and sympathized with the Communist Party, that during part of this period petitiner maintained a sympathetic association with a number of officials of the Russian Embassy, that during this period petitioner's political views were similar to those of his then wife, that petitioner had been a member of a suspect bookshop association, had invested money in a suspect radio station, had attended a suspect dinner, and had, on occasion, Communist publications in his home, and that petitioner's credibility as a witness in the proceedings was doubtful. The letter also stated that the doubts concerning petitioner's credibility affected the Board's evaluation of his trustworthiness and that only trustworthy persons could be afforded access to classified information.19 The EIPSB determination was affirmed.
After the EIPSB decision in 1954, petitioner filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia asking for a declaration that the revocation was unlawful and void and for an order restraining respondents from acting pursuant to it.20 He also asked for an order requiring respondents to advise ERCO that the clearance revocation was void. Following the affirmance of the EIPSB order by the Industrial Personnel Review Board, petitioner moved for summary judgment in the District Court. The Government cross-filed for dismissal of the complaint or summary judgment. The District Court granted the Government's motion for summary judgment, 150 F.Supp. 958, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that disposition, 103 U.S.App.D.C. 87, 254 F.2d 944, 952.
The Court of Appeals recognized that petitioner had suffered substantial harm from the clearance revocation.21 But in that court's view, petitioner's suit presented no 'justiciable controversy'—no controversy which the courts could finally and effectively decide. This conclusion followed from the Court of Appeals' reasoning that the Executive Department alone is competent to evaluate the competing considerations which exist in determining the persons who are to be afforded security clearances. The court also rejected petitioner's claim that he was deprived of his livelihood without the traditional safeguards required by 'due process of law' such as confrontation of his accusers and access to confidential reports used to determine his fitness. Central to this determination was the court's unwillingness to order the Government to choose between disclosing the identities of informants or giving petitioner clearance.
The issue, as we see it, is whether the Department of Defense has been authorized to create an industrial security clearance program under which affected persons may lose their jobs and may be restrained in following their chosen professions on the basis of fact determinations concerning their fitness for clearance made in proceedings in which they are denied the traditional procedural safeguards of confrontation and cross-examination.
Respondents maintain that congressional authorization to the President to fashion a program which denies security clearance to persons on the basis of confidential information which the individuals have no opportunity to confront and test is unnecessary because the President has inherent authority to maintain military secrets inviolate. And respondents argue that if a statutory grant of power is necessary, such a grant can readily be inferred 'as a necesari ly implicit authority from the generalized provisions' of legislation dealing with the armed services. But the question which must be decided in this case is not whether the President has inherent power to act or whether Congress has granted him such a power; rather, it is whether either the President or Congress exercised such a power and delegated to the Department of Defense the authority to fashion such a program.
Certain principles have remained relatively immutable in our jurisprudence. One of these is that where governmental action seriously injures an individual, and the reasonableness of the action depends on fact findings, the evidence used to prove the Government's case must be disclosed to the individual so that he has an opportunity to show that it is untrue. While this is important in the case of documentary evidence, it is even more important where the evidence consists of the testimony of individuals whose memory might be faulty or who, in fact, might be perjurers or persons motivated by malice, vindictiveness, intolerance, prejudice, or jealousy. We have formalized these protections in the requirements of confrontation and cross-examination. They have ancient roots.25 They find expression in the Sixth Amendment which provides that in all criminal cases the accused shall enjoy the right 'to be confronted with the witnesses against him.' This Court has been zealous to protect these rights from erosion. It has spoken out not only in criminal cases, e.g., Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 242—244, 15 S.Ct. 337, 339—340, 39 L.Ed. 409; Kirby v. United States, 174 U.S. 47, 19 S.Ct. 574, 43 L.Ed. 890; Motes v. United States, 178 U.S. 458, 474, 20 S.Ct. 993, 999, 44 L.Ed. 1150; In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 273, 68 S.Ct. 499, 507, 92 L.Ed. 682, but also in all types of cases where administrative and regulatory actions were under scrutiny. E.g., Southern R. Co. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 290 U.S. 190, 54 S.Ct. 148, 78 L.Ed. 260; Ohio Bell Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Commission, 301 U.S. 292, 57 S.Ct. 724, 81 L.Ed. 1093; Morgan v. United States, 304 U.S. 1, 19, 58 S.Ct. 773, 776, 999, 82 L.Ed. 1129; Carter v. Kubler, 320 U.S. 243, 64 S.Ct. 1, 88 L.Ed. 26; Reilly v. Pinkus, 338 U.S. 269, 70 S.Ct. 110, 94 L.Ed. 63. Nor, as it has been pointed out, has Congress ignored these fundamental requirements in enacting regulatory legislation. Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath, 341 U.S. 123, 168—169, 71 S.Ct. 624, 646—647, 95 L.Ed.2d 817 (concurring opinion).
'29. General. a. No person shall be entitled to knowledge or possession of, or access to, classified security information solely by virtue of his office or position.
'b. Classified security information shall not be discussed with or in the presence of unauthorized persons, and the latter shall not be permitted to inspect or have access to such information.
'c. The head of each agency shall establish a system for controlling the dissemination of classified security information adequate to the needs of his agency.
'30. Limitations on dissemination—a. Within the Executive Branch. The dissemination of classified security information shall be limited to persons whose official duties require knowledge of such information. Special measures shall be employed to limit the dissemination of 'Top Secret' security information to the absolute minimum. Only that portion of 'Top Secret' security information necessary to the proper planning and appropriate action of any organizational unit or individual shall be released to such unit or individual.
'Sec. 7. Accountability and Dissemination.
The first proffered statute is the National Security Act of 1947, as amended, 5 U.S.C. § 171 et seq., 5 U.S.C.A. § 171 et seq. That Act created the Department of Defense and gave to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the armed services the authority to administer their departments. Nowhere in the Act, or its amendments, is there found specific authority to create a clearance program similar to the one now in effect.
'(a) The cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost system of contracting may not be used. Subject to this limitation and subject to subsections (b)—(e), the head of an agency may, in negotiating contracts under section 2304 of this title, make any kind of contract that he considers will promote the best interests of the United States.' Respondents argue that these statutes, together with 18 U.S.C. § 798, 18 U.S.C.A. § 798, which makes it a crime willfully and knowingly to communicate to unauthorized persons information concerning crypto-graphic or intelligence activities, and 50 U.S.C. § 783(b), 50 U.S.C.A. § 783(b),whi ch makes it a crime for an officer or employee of the United States to communicate classified information to agents of foreign governments or officers and members of 'Communist organizations,' reflect a recognition by Congress of the existence of military secrets and the necessity of keeping those secrets inviolate.
Respondents' argument on delegation resolves itself into the following: The President, in general terms, has authorized the Department of Defense to create procedures to restrict the dissemination of classified information and has apparently acquiesced in the elaborate program established by the Secretary of Defense even where application of the program results in restraints on traditional freedoms without the use of long-required procedural protections. Similarly, Congress, although it has not enacted specific legislation relating to clearance procedures to be utilized for industrial workers, has acquiesced in the existing Department of Defense program and has ratified it by specifically appropriating funds to finance one aspect of it.
If acquiescence or implied ratification were enough to show delegation of authority to take actions within the area of questionable constitutionality, we might agree with respondents that delegation has been shown here. In many circumstances, where the Government's freedom to act is clear, and the Congress or the President has provided general standards of action and has acquiesced in administrative interpretation, delegation may be inferred. Thus, even in the absence of specific delegation, we have no difficulty in finding, as we do, that the Department of Defense has been authorized to fashion and apply an industrial clearance program which affords affected persons the safeguards of confrontation and cross-examination. But this case does not present that situation. We deal here with substantial restraints on employment opportunities of numerous persons imposed in a manner which is in conflict with our long-accepted notions of fair procedures.31 Before we are asked to judge whether, in the context of security clearance cases, a person may be deprived of the right to follow his chosen profession without full hearings where accusers may be confronted, it must be made clear that the President or Congress, within their respective constitutional powers, specifically has decided that the imposed procedures are necessary and warranted and has authorized their use. Cf. Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 77 S.Ct. 1173, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273; Scull v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 359 U.S. 344, 79 S.Ct. 838, 3 L.Ed.2d 865. Such decisions cannot be assumed by acquiescence or nonaction. Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116, 78 S.Ct. 113, 2 L.Ed.2d 1204; Peters v. Hobby, 349 U.S. 331, 75 S.Ct. 790, 99 L.Ed. 1129; Ex parte Endo, 323 U.S. 283, 301—302, 65 S.Ct. 208, 218, 89 L.Ed. 243. They must be made explicitly not only to assure that individuals are not deprived of cherished rights under procedures not actually authorized, see Peters v. Hobby, supra, but also because explicit action, especially in areas of doubtful constitutionality, requires careful and purposeful consideration by those responsible for enacting and implementing our laws. Without explicit action by lawmakers, decisions of great constitutional import and effect would be relegated by default to administrators who, under our system of government, are not endowed with authority to decide them.
Where administrative action has raised serious constitutional problems, the Court has assumed that Congress or the President intended to afford those affected by the action the traditional safeguards of due process. See, e.g., The Japanese Immigrant Case (Kaoru Yamataya v. Fisher), 189 U.S. 86, 101, 23 S.Ct. 611, 614, 47 L.Ed. 721; Dismuke v. United States, 297 U.S. 167, 172, 56 S.Ct. 400, 80 L.Ed. 561; Ex parte Endo, 323 U.S. 283, 299—300, 65 S.Ct. 208, 217, 89 L.Ed. 243; American Power & Light Co. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 329 U.S. 90, 107— 108, 67 S.Ct. 133, 143, 91 L.Ed. 103; Hannegan v. Esquire, 327 U.S. 146, 156, 66 S.Ct. 456, 461, 90 L.Ed. 586; Wong Yang Sung & McGrath, 339 U.S. 33, 49, 70 S.Ct. 445, 453, 94 L.Ed. 616. Cf. Anniston Mfg. Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 337, 57 S.Ct. 816, 81 L.Ed. 1143; United States v. Rumely, 345 U.S. 41, 73 S.Ct. 543, 97 L.Ed. 770. These cases reflect the Court's concern that traditional forms of fair procedure not be restricted by implication or without the most explicit action by the Nation's lawmakers, even in areas where it is possible that the Constitution presents no inhibition.
In the instant case, petitioner's work opportunities have been severely limited on the basis of a fact determination rendered after a hearing which failed to comport with our traditional ideas of fair procedure. The type of hearing was the product of administrative decision not explicitly authorized by either Congress or the President. Whether those procedures under the circumstances comport with the Constitution we do not decide. Nor do we decide whether the President has inherent authority to create such a program, whether congressional action is necessary, or what the limits on executive or legislative authority may be. We decide only that in the absence of explicit authorization from either the President or Congress the respondents were not empowered to deprive petitioner of his job in a proceeding in which he was not afforded the safeguards of confrontation and cross-examination.
Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the case is remanded to the District Court for proceedings not inconsistent herewith.
Judgment reversed and case remanded to the District Court with directions.
Mr. Justice FRANKFURTER, Mr. Justice HARLAN and Mr. Justice WHITTAKER concur in the judgment on the ground that it has not been shown that either Congress or the President authorized the procedures whereby petitioner's security clearance was revoked, intimating no views as to the validity of those procedures.
Mr. Justice HARLAN, concurring specially.
What has been written on both sides of this case makes appropriate a further word from one who concurs in the judgment of the Court, but cannot join its opinion.
Unlike any brother CLARK who finds this case 'both clear and simple,' I consider the constitutional issue it presents most difficult and far-reaching. In my view the Court quite properly declines to decide it in the present posture of the case. My unwillingness to subscribe to the Court's opinion is due to the fact that it unnecessarily deals with the very issue it disclaims deciding. For present purposes no more need be said than that we should not be drawn into deciding the constitutionality of the security-clearance revocation procedures employed in this case until the use of such procedures in matters of this kind has been deliberately considered and expressly authorized by the Congress or the President who alone are in a position to evaluate in the first instance the totality of factors bearing upon the necessity for their use. That much the courts are entitled to before they are asked to express a constitutional judgment upon an issue fraught with such important consequences both to the Government and the citizen.
Ample justification for abstaining from a constitutional decision at this stage of the case is afforded by the Court's traditional and wise rule of not reaching constitutional issues unnecessarily or prematurely. That rle indeed has been consistently followed by this Court when faced with 'confrontation' issues in other security or loyalty cases. See Peters v. Hobby, 349 U.S. 331, 75 S.Ct. 790, 99 L.Ed. 1129; Vitarelli v. Seaton, 359 U.S. 535, 79 S.Ct. 968; cf. Service v. Dulles, 354 U.S. 363, 77 S.Ct. 1152, 1 L.Ed.2d 1403; Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116, 78 S.Ct. 1113, 2 L.Ed.2d 1204. Adherence to that rule is, as I understand it, the underlying basis of today's decision, and it is on that basis that I join the judgment of the Court.
It is regrettable that my brother CLARK should have so far yielded to the temptations of colorful characterization as to depict the issue in this case as being whether a citizen has 'a constitutional right to have access to the Government's military secrets,' and to suggest that the Court's action today requires 'the President's Cabinet members to revoke their refusal to give' the petitioner 'access to military secrets,' despite any views they may have as to his reliability. Of course this decision involves no such issue or consequences. The basic constitutional issue is not whether petitioner is entitled to access to classified material, but rather whether the particular procedures here employed to deny clearance on security grounds were constitutionally permissible. With good reason we do not reach that issue as matters now stand. And certainly there is nothing in the Court's opinion which suggests that petitioner must be given access to classified material.
'defense information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which could result in serious damage to the Nation, such as by jeopardizing the international relations of the United States, endangering the effectiveness of a program or policy of vital importance to the national defense, or compromising important military or defense plans, scientific or technological developments important to national defense, or information revealing important intelligence operations.' Exec. Order No. 10501, Nov. 5, 1953, 18 Fed.Reg. 7049, 3 CFR (1949—1953 Comp.), p. 979, § 1(b), 50 U.S.C.A. § 401 note.
Surely one does not have a constitutional right to have access to the Government's military secrets.1 But the Court says that because of the refusal to grant Greene further access, he has lost his position as vice president and general manager, a chief executive officer, of ERCO, whose business was devoted wholly to defense contracts with the United States,2 and that his training in aeronautical engineering, together with the facts that ERCO engages solely in government work and that the Government is the country's largest airplane customer, has in some unaccountable fashion parlayed his employment with ERCO into 'a constitutional right.' What for anyone else would be considered a privilege at best has for Greene been enshrouded in constitutional protection. This sleight of hand is too much for me.
But this is not all. After holding that Greene has constitutional protection for his private job, the Court has ordered the President's Cabnet members to revoke their refusal to give Greene access to military secrets.3 It strikes down the present regulations as being insufficiently authorized by either the President or the Congress because the procedures fail to provide for confrontation or cross-examination at Board hearings. Let us first consider that problem.
After full consideration the Court concludes 'that in the absence of explicit authorization from either the President or Congress the respondents were not empowered to deprive petitioner of his job in a proceeding in which he was not afforded the safeguards of confrontation and cross-examination.' In so doing, as I shall point out, it holds for naught the Executive Orders of both President Roosevelt and President Truman and the directives pursuant thereto of every Cabinet officer connected with our defense since 1942 plus the explicit order of General Dwight D. Eisenhower as Chief of Staff in 1946. In addition, contrary to the Court's conclusion, the Congress was not only fully informed but had itself published the very procedures used in Greene's case.
I believe that the Court is in error in holding, as it must, in order to reach this 'authorization' issue, that Greene's 'right to hold specific private employment and to follow a chosen profession free from unreasonable governmental interference' is protected by the Fifth Amendment. It cites four cases in support of this proposition and says compare four others. As I read those cases not one is in point.4 In fact, I cannot find a single case in support of the Court's position. Even a suit for damages on the ground of interference with private contracts does not lie against the Government. The Congress specifically exempted such suits from the Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h), 28 U.S.C.A. § 2680(h). But the action today may have the effect of by-passing that exemption since Greene will now claim, as has Vitarelli, see Vitarelli v. Seaton, 1959, 359 U.S. 535, 79 S.Ct. 968, reimbursement for his loss of wages. See Taylor v. McElroy, 360 U.S. 709, 79 S.Ct. 1428. This will date back to 1953. His salary at that time was $18,000 a year.
The Court refuses to pass on the constitutionality of the procedures used in the hearings. It does say that the hearings provided for in the program permit the restraint of 'employment opportunities through a denial of clearance without the safeguards of confrontation and cross-examination.' I think the Court confuses administrative action with judicial trials. This Court has long ago and repeatedly approved administrative action where the rights of cross-examination and confrontation were not permitted. Chicago & Southern Air Lines v. Waterman S.S. Corp., 1948, 333 U.S. 103, 68 S.Ct. 431, 92 L.Ed. 568; Carlson v. Landon, 1952, 342 U.S. 524, 72 S.Ct. 525, 96 L.Ed. 547; United States v. Nugent, 1953, 346 U.S. 1, 73 S.Ct. 991, 97 L.Ed. 1417; United States v. Reynolds, 1953, 345 U.S. 1, 73 S.Ct. 528, 97 L.Ed. 727; United States ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 1950, 338 U.S. 537, 70 S.Ct. 309, 94 L.Ed. 317; Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei, 1953, 345 U.S. 206, 73 S.Ct. 625, 97 L.Ed. 956, and Jay v. Boyd, 1956, 351 U.S. 345, 76 S.Ct. 919, 100 L.Ed. 1242.
I shall not labor the point further than to say that in my opinion the procedures here do comport with that fairness required of administrative action in the security field. A score of our cases, as I have cited, support me in this position. Not one is to the contrary. And the action of the Court in striking down the program for lack of specific authorization is indeed strange, and hard for me to understand at this critical time of national emergency. The defense establishment should know—and now—whether its program is constitutional and, if not, wherein it is deficient. I am sure that it will remember that in order times of emergency—no more grave than the present—it was permitted, without any hearing whatsoever—much less with confrontation and cross-examination—to remove American citizens from their homes on the West Coast and place them in concentration camps. See Hirabayashi v. United States, 1943, 320 U.S. 81, 63 S.Ct. 1375, 87 L.Ed. 1774; Korematsu v. United States, 1944, 323 U.S. 214, 65 S.Ct. 193, 89 L.Ed. 194. My examination of the Japanese exclusion orders indicates clearly that the Executive Order was a general authorization just as the two here. Congress at the time only created criminal offenses for violation of exclusion or curfew orders of the military commander. Likewise we have criminal statutes here. And while the Japanese orders were in time of war, those involved here had their inception in war and have been continued during the national emergency declared by the President. No one informed in present world affairs would say that our safety is less in jeopardy today. In fact we are now spending nearly as much money to protect it as during the war period. In this light it is inescapable that the existing authorizations are entirely sufficient. Let us examine them.
II. THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS HAVE GRANTED SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO THE CABINET OFFICERS.
Since 1941 the industrial security program has been in operation under express directives from the President. Within a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Exec. Order No. 8972, 6 Fed.Reg. 6420, Dec. 12, 1941, which authorized both the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy 'to establish and maintain military guards and patrols, and to take other appropriate measures, to protect from injury and destruction national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities, * * *.' (Emphasis added.) In 1942, under the authority of that Executive Order, the Secretary of War undertook the formulation and execution of a program of industrial security.6 The procedures in operation from 1942 and 1943 are outlined in a 1946 publication of the Department of War entitled 'Suspension of Subversives from Privately Operated Facilities of Importance to the Security of the Nation's Army and Navy Programs.'7 Interestingly enough, the instructions were issued in time of peace, did not give the suspect a hearing, and were signed by the then Chief of Staff—now President—Dwight D. Eisenhower.
'd. Establishment of uniform methods of handling of personnel clearances and secrecy agreements * * *.' First Report of the Secretary of Defense (1948) 102—103.
'Industrial Security.—A program to coordinate and develop uniform practices to protect classified military information placed in the hands of industry under procurement and research contracts was continued by the Munitions Board. Criteria were developed for the granting or denial of personnel and facility clearances in the performance of classified contracts. Work was started to establish a central security clearance register to centralize clearance data for ready reference by all departments and to prevent duplication in making clearance investigations. A joint Personnel Security Board administers this program, and the Industrial Employment Review Board hears appeals from security clearance denials.' Second Report of the Secretary of Defense, for the Fiscal Year 1949 (1950), 85.
Again in 1950 the Secretary of Defense informed the President, in a report required by law, of the status of the industrial security program.
'In the past 6 months, the Munitions Board activated the Industrial Employment Review Board, established procedures under which the latter will operate, and developed a set of uniform criteria stipulating the circumstances under which security clearances will be denied. The Munitions Board also established a Central Index Security Clearance File to serve as a clearing house for all indvid ual and facility clearances and denials, (and) developed a standard security requirements check list * * *.
Uniform standards for security investigations of facility and contractors' personnel are being developed * * *. A standard military security agreement is being coordinated to bind potential suppliers to security regulations before a classified contract is awarded, and a manual to give security guidance to industry is being prepared.' Semiannual Report of the Secretary of Defense, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1949 (1950), 97.
The President, in 1953, in Reorganization Plan No. 6, 67 Stat. 638, 5 U.S. C.A. § 133z—15 note, transferred all of the 'functions of the Munitions Board' to the Secretary of Defense and dissolved that Board. Since then the program has been in operation under the authority of the Secretary. Also in 1953, the President issued Exec. Order No. 10450, Apr. 27, 1953, 18 Fed.Reg. 2489, 3 CFR (1949—1953 Comp.), p. 936, 5 U.S.C.A. § 631 note. That order dealt with the criteria and procedures to be used in the Federal Loyalty Security Program, which had been instituted under Exec. Order No. 9835, 12 Fed.Reg. 1935, 3 CFR (1943—1948 Comp.), p. 630, Mar. 21, 1947, 5 U.S.C.A. § 631 note. The latter order made clear that federal employees suspected of disloyalty had no right of confrontation.10 And the regulations promulgated under the order provided no such right. See 13 Fed.Reg. 9365, 5 CFR (1949), § 210, Dec. 31, 1948. These procedures were revised under Exec. Order No. 10450, supra, although again, confrontation and cross-examination were not provided. See 19 Fed.Reg. 1503, 32 CFR, p. 288, Mar. 19, 1954. Thus, it was clear that the President had not contemplated that there would be a right of confrontation in the Federal Loyalty Security Program. And the report of the Secretary of the Army—transmitted to the President by the Secretary of Defense—made clear that the criteria of Exec. Order No. 10450 were being utilized not only where the loyalty of a government employee was in doubt, but also in carrying out the industrial security program. Semi-annual Report of the Secretary of the Army, Jan. 1, 1954, to June 30, 1954, 135 136.
Thus we see that the program has for 18 years been carried on under the express authority of the President, and has been regularly reported to him by his highest Cabinet officers. How the Court can say, despite these facts, that the President has not sufficiently authorized the program is beyond me, unless the Court means that it is necessary for the President to write out the Industrial Security Manual in his own hand.
Furthermore, I think Congress has sufficiently authorized the program, as it has been kept fully aware of its development and has appropriated money to support it. During the formative period of the program, 1949—1951, the Congress, through appropriation hearings, was kept fully informed as to the activity. In 1949 D. F. Carpenter, Chairman of the Munitions Board, appeared before a Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations to testify concerning the requested appropriation for the Board. While the report indicates much of the testimony was 'off the record,' it does contain specific references to the program here under attack.11 Significantly the appropriation bill for 1950 included an item of $11,300,000 for the maintenance, inter alia, of the Board.
'Then we are going to intensify the industrial mobilization planning within the Department of Defense, with particular emphasis on industrial security * * *.' House of Representatives, Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on the Supplemental Appropriation for 1951, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 264.
By the 1953 Reorganization Plan, the functions of the Munitions Board were transferred to various Assistant Secretaries of Defense. The industrial security program was put under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Personnel, and Reserve Forces. Of course, this office received an appropriation each year. These hearings, to cite but two, certainly indicate an awareness on the part of Congress of the existence of the industrial security program, and the continued appropriations hardly be-speak an unwillingness on the part of Congress that it be carried on. In 1955, the Eighty-fourth Congress, on the motion of Senator Wiley for unanimous consent, caused to be printed the so-called Internal Security Manual, S. Doc. No. 40, 84th Cong., 1st Sess. It is a compilation of all laws, regulations, and congressional committees relating to the national security. Contained in the volume is the 'Industrial Personnel Security Review Regulation,' i.e., a verbatim copy of the regulations set up by the Secretary of Defense on February 2, 1955. This Manual outlined in detail the hearing procedures which are here condemned by the Court. And it is important to note that the final denial of Greene's clearance was by a Board acting under these very regulations. Still not one voice was raised either within or without the Halls of Congress that the Defense Department had exceeded its authority or that contractor employees were being denied their constitutional rights. In other cases we have held that the inaction of the Congress, in circumstances much less specific than here, was a clear ratification of a program as it was then being carried out by the Executive. Why, I ask, do we not do that here where it is so vital? We should not be 'that 'blind' Court * * * that does not see what '(a)ll others can see and understand' * * *' United States v. Rumely, 1953, 345 U.S. 41, 44, 73 S.Ct. 543, 545, 97 L.Ed. 770.
While it certainly is not clear to me, I suppose that the present fastidiousness of the Court can be satisfied by the President's incorporating the present industrial security program into a specific Executive Order or the Congress' placing it on the statute books. To me this seems entirely superfluous in light of the clear authorization presently existing in the Cabinet officers. It also subjects the Governmet t o multitudinous actions and perhaps large damages—by reason of discharges made pursuant to the present procedures.
And I might add a nota bene. Even if the Cabinet officers are given this specific direction, the opinion today, by dealing so copiously with the constitutional issues, puts a cloud over both the Employee Loyalty Program and the one here under attack. Neither requires that hearings afford confrontation or cross-examination. While the Court disclaims deciding this constitutional question, no one reading the opinion will doubt that the explicit language of its broad sweep speaks in prophecy. Let us hope that the winds may change. If they do not the present temporary debacle will turn into a rout of our internal security.
Petitioner was given a Confidential clearance by the Army on August 9, 1949, a Top Secret clearance by the Assistant Chief of Staff G—2, Military District of Washington on November 9, 1949, and a Top Secret clearance by the Air Material Command on February 3, 1950.
'The Contractor shall exclude (this does not imply the dismissal or separation of any employee) from any part of its plants, factories, or sites at which work for any military department is being performed, any person or persons whom the Secretary of the military department concerned or his duly authorized representative, in the interest of security, may designate in writing.
'During the year 1953, and for many years previous thereto, I was the principal stockholder of Engineering and Research Corporation, a corporation which had its principal place of business at Riverdale, Maryland. I was also the chairman of the board, and the principal executive officer of this corporation.
'Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of April 17, 1953 in which you state that you have reviewed the case history file on William Lewis Greene and have concluded that his continued access to Navy classified security information is inconsistent with the best interests of National Security.
factories or sites and to bar him from information, in the interests of protecting Navy classified projects and classified security information.
'In accordance with your request, please be advised that since receipt of your letter this company has excluded Mr. Greene from any part of our plants, factories or sites and barred him access to all classified security information.
'For your further information, Mr. Greene tendered his resignation as an officer of this corporation and has left the plant. We shall have no further contact with him until his status is clarified although we have not yet formally accepted his resignation.
'Mr. Greene is Vice President of this company in charge of engineering. His knowledge, experience and executive ability have proven of inestimable value in the past. The loss of his services at this time is a serious below to company operations. Accordingly, we should like the privilege of a personal conference to discuss the matter further.
'Furthermore, you state that you are referring the case to the Secretary of Defense recommending that the Industrial Employment Review Board's decision of January 29, 1952 be overruled. If it is appropriate, we should like very much to have the privilege of discussing the matter with the Secretary of Defense.
'Please accept our thanks for any official courtesies which you are in a position to extend.
On May 4, 1953, pursuant to the memorandum of the Secretary of Defense dated March 27, 1953, see note 6, supra, the Secretaries of the military departments established regional Industrial Personnel Security Boards governed by generalized standards, criteria, and procedures.
'1. During 1942 Subject was a member of the Washington Book Shop Association, an organization that has been officially cited by the Attorney General of the United States as Communist and subversive.
'2. Subject's first wife, Jean Hinton Greene, to whom he was married from approximately December 1942 to approximately December 1947, was an ardent Communist during the greater part of the period of the marriage.
'Q. We have information here, Mr. Greene, that one particular individual specifically called your attention to the fact that (Congressman) Rankin and (Senator) Bilbo had characterized this station as a Communist station, run by and for Communists?
'Q. We have information here, this has come from an informant characterized to be of known reliability in which he refers to conversations he had with you about January of 1947 in which you told him that you had visited M_ _ P_ _ the previous evening and had become rather chummy with him, do you wish to comment on that?
information here from an informant characterized as being one of known reliability, in hic h S_ _ L_ _ told this informant that shortly following her Western High School speech in 1947, she remarked to you that probably many people will learn things about Russia and she quoted you as replying, 'Well I hope they learn something good, at least.' Do you wish to say anything about that?
'Q. Information we have, Mr. Greene, indicates first of all, that you didn't meet these Russians in 1942 but you met them in early 1943.
'Q. Now, we have further information, Mr. Greene, indicating that the initiative of these contacts came from Col. Berezin.
'Q. We have information here indicating that as a matter of fact, sir, we do know that the meeting between you and Col. Berezin was arranged through Hess and Hochfeld as you indicated. We also have information from a source identified as being one of known reliability referring to a conversation that this source had with Hess in April 1943 in which Hess stated that he had been talking to one Harry, not further identified but presumed to be Hochfeld and that Harry said to Hess that he had a young engineer who is a good friend of ours and of our cause and Harry wanted Hess to set up a meeting between Berezin and yourself. Can you give us some reason why Harry might have referred to you as a good friend of our cause?
'Q. Now you were in Bill's home, that red brick house that you're talking about.
'Q. Was there anything unusual about the house itself, the interior of it, was it dirty?
'Q. Were there any beds in their house which had no mattresses on them?
'Q. Did you ever hear it said that Jean Slept on a board in order to keep the common touch?
'Q. When you were in Jean's home did she dress conventionally when she received her guests?
This Board was created by the Secretary of Defense on February 2, 1955, and given power to review adverse decisions rendered by the regional boards.
This was the first time that petitioner was charged or found to be untrustworthy.
The complaint was filed before the establishment of the Industrial Personnel Security Review Board. See note 18, supra.
The Court of Appeals stated: 'We have no doubt that Greene has in fact been injured. He was forced out of a job that paid him $18,000 per year. He has since been reduced, so far as this record shows, to working as an architectural draftsman at a salary of some $4,400 per year. Further, as an aeronautical engineer of considerable experience he says (without real contradiction) that he is effectively barred from pursuit of many aspects of his profession, given the current dependence of most phases of the aircraft industry on Defense Department contracts not only for production but for research and development work as well. * * * Nor do we doubt that, following the Government's action, some stigma, in greater or less degree, has attached to Greene.' 103 U.S.App.D.C. 87, 95—96, 254 F.2d 944, 952—953.
We note our agreement with respondents' concession that petitioner has standing to bring this suit and to assert whatever rights he may have. Respondents' actions, directed at petitioner as an individual, caused substantial injuries, Joint Anti-Fascist .refugee Committee v. McGrath, 341 U.S. 123, 152, 71 S.Ct. 624, 638, 95 L.Ed. 817 (concurring opinion), and, were they the subject of a suit between private persons, they could be attacked as an invasion of a legally protected right to be free from arbitrary interference with private contractual relationships. Moreover, petitioner has the right to be free from unauthorized actions of government officials which substantially impair his property interests. Cf. Philadelphia Co. v. Stimson, 223 U.S. 605, 32 S.Ct. 340, 56 L.Ed. 570.
§ 67.1—4. Release of information.
See 'Charter of the Industrial Employment Review Board, dated 7 November 1949,' note 4, supra; 'Charter of the Army-Navy-Air Force Personnel Security Board, dated 19 June 1950,' note 3, supra; Memorandum issued by the Secretary of Defense to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force and to the Chairman of the Munitions Board, dated March 27, 1953, notes 6, 7, 8 and 9, supra; 'The Industrial Personnel and Facility Security Clearance Program,' effective May 4, 1953, note 13, supra; 'The Industrial Personnel Security Review Regulation,' 20 Fed.Reg. 1553, 32 CFR Part 67 (1958 Supp.); Industrial Security Manual for Safeguarding Classified Information, 20 Fed.Reg. 6213, 21 Fed.Reg. 2814.
When Festus more than two thousand years ago reported to King Agrippa that Felix had given him a prisoner named Paul and that the priests and elders desired to have judgment against Paul, Festus is reported to have stated: 'It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.' Acts 25:16.
Professor Wigmore explains in some detail the emergence of the principle in Anglo-American law that confrontation and cross-examination are basic ingredients in a fair trial. 5 Wigmore on Evidence (3d ed. 1940) § 1364. And see O'Brian, National Security and Individual Freedom, 62.
'Q. I'd like to read to you a quotation from the testimony of a person who had identified himself as having been a very close friend of yours over a long period of years. He states that you, as saying to him one day that you were reading a great deal of pro-Communist books and other literature. Do you wish to comment on that?
'Q. Incidentally this man's testimony concerning you was entirely favorable in one respect. He stated that he didn't think you were a Communist but he did state that he thought that you have been influenced by Jean's viewpoints and that he had received impressions definite that it was your wife who was parlor pink and that you were going along with her.
'Q. This same friend testified that he believed that you were influenced by Jean's wild theories and he decided at that time to have no further association with you and your wife * * *.
constantly finding fault with the American institutions, opposing the American Capitalistic System and never had anything but praise for the Russians and everything they attempted to do. Did you find that to be the case?
'Q. We have a statement here from another witness with respect to yourself in which he states that you felt that the modern people in this country were too rich and powerful, that the capitalistic system of this country was to the disadvantage of the working people and that the working people were exploited by the rich.
'Q. I have a statement from another one of your associates to the effect that you would at times, present to him a fellow-traveler argument. This man indicated to us that he was pretty well versed on the Communist Party line himself at that time and found you parroting arguments which he assumed that you got from your wife. Do you wish to comment on that?' Confrontation of the persons who allegedly made these statements would have been of prime importance to petitioner, for cross-examination might have shown that these 'witnesses' were hazy in recollecting long-past incidents, or were irrationally motivated by bias or vindictiveness.
'(Q.) * * * What other type of evidence is received by the hearing boards besides the evidence of persons under oath (A .) The reports from the various governmental investigative agencies.
'(Q.) And the reports of the various governmental investigations might, themselves, be hearsay, might they not? (A.) I think that is a fair statement.
'(Q.) Can you tell me what type of help is given to the hearing board in these reports with respect to the matter of evaluation? What is the nature of the evaluation that is used for this purpose? (A.) Well, each board has a person who is called a security adviser, who is an expert in that particular area. Each screening board has one, and those individuals are well-trained people who know how to evaluate reports and evaluate information. They know how to separate the wheat from the chaff, and they assist these boards.
'(Q.) This expert, then, has to take the report and make his own determination in assisting the board as to the reliability of a witness that he has never seen, or perhaps hasn't even had the opportunity to see the person who interviewed the witness? (A.) Well, he has nothing to do with the witness; no.
Hearings before Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Senate Judiciary Committee, on S.Res. 94, 84th Cong., 2d Sess. 623—624. And cf. Richardson, The Federal Employee Loyalty Program, 51 Col.L.Rev. 546, and Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on S.Res. 231, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., 327—339 (statement of J. Edgar Hoover, Director Federal Bureau of Investigation).
No better, for this purpose, is Exec. Order No. 8972, 6 Fed.Reg. 6420, filed on December 12, 1941, which empowered the Secretary of War 'to establish and maintain military guards and patrols, and to take other appropriate measures, to protect from injury or destruction national defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities * * *.' Even if that order is relevant authority for programs created after World War II, which is doubtful, it provides no specific authorization for nonconfrontation hearings.
As far as appears, the most substantial official notice which Congress had of the non-confrontation procedures used in screening industrial workers was embodied in S.Doc. No. 40, 84th Cong., 1st Sess., a 354-page compilation of laws, executive orders, and regulations relating to internal security, printed at the request of a single Senator, which reproduced, among other documents and without specific comment, the Industrial Personnel Security Review Regulation.
'In connection with the procurement programs of the Department of Defense, regulations have been prescribed to provide uniform standards and criteria for determining the eligibility of contractors, contractor employees, and certain other individuals, to have access to classified defense information. The regulations also establish administrative procedures governing the disposition of cases in which a military department, or activity thereof, has made a recommendation or determination (a) with respect to the denial, suspension, or revocation of a clearance of a contractor or contractor employee; and (b) with respect to the denial or withdrawal of authorization for access by certain other individuals.
'While the Department of Defense assumes, unless information to the contrary is received, that all contractors and contractor employees are loyal to the Government of the United States, the responsibilities of the Military Establishment necessitate vigorous application of policies designed to minimize the security risk incident to the use of classified information by such contractors and contractor employees. Accordingly, measures are taken to provide continuing assurance that no contractor or contractor employee will be granted a clearance if available information indicates that the granting of such clearance may not be clearly consistent with the interests of national security. At the same time, every possible safeguard within the limitations of national security will be provided to ensure that no contractor or contractor employee will be denied a clearance without an opportunity for a fair hearing.' Id., at 774. This description hardly constitute ev en notice to the Committee of the nature of the hearings afforded. Thus the appropriation could not 'plainly show a purpose to bestow the precise authority which is claimed.' Ex parte Endo, 323 U.S. 283, 303, note 24, 65 S.Ct. 208, 219, 89 L.Ed. 243. Likewise, appropriations of specific amounts for the Munitions Board or its successors, agencies with multifold objectives, without any mention of the uses to which the funds could be put, cannot be considered as a ratification of the use of the specified hearing procedures.
It is estimated that approximately three million persons having access to classified information are covered by the industrial security program. Brown, Loyalty and Security (1958), 179—180; Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Report of the Special Committee on the Federal Loyalty-Security Program (1956), 64.
My brother HARLAN very kindly credits me with 'colorful characterization' in stating this as the issue. While I take great pride in authorship, I must say that in this instance I merely agreed with the statement of the issue by the Solicitor General and his co-counsel in five different places in the Brief for the United States. See pp. 2, 17, 19, 29, 59.
ERCO agreed in its government contract, as was well known to Greene, to exclude any individual from any part of its plant at which work under the contract was being performed who had not been cleared by the Navy for access to military secrets.
Brother HARLAN states that I suggest 'that the Court's action today requires 'the President's Cabinet members to revoke their refusal to give' the petitioner 'access to military secrets,' despite any views they may have as to his reliability. * * *' Government officials, well versed in the application of this Court's judgments to the practicalities of government operation, say that the relief which Greene seeks here—and which the Court now grants—is 'in substance, a mandatory injunction requiring that the Government show him (or, in practice, allow contractors to show him) defense secrets, notwithstanding the judgment of the executive branch that such disclosure might jeopardize the national safety.' Brief for the United States, 48.
Dent v. State of West Virginia, 1889, 129 U.S. 114, 9 S.Ct. 231, 32 L.Ed. 623, held that a West Virginia statute did not deprive one previously practicing medicine of his rights without due process by requiring him to obtain a license under the Act. Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, 1957, 353 U.S. 232, 77 S.Ct. 752, 1 L.Ed.2d 796, likewise a license case, did not pass upon the 'right' or 'privilege' to practice law, merely holding that on the facts the refusal to permit Schware to take the examination was 'invidiously discriminatory.' In Peters v. Hobby, 1955, 349 U.S. 331, 75 S.Ct. 790, 99 L.Ed. 1129, the Court simply held the action taken violated the Executive Order involved. The concurring opinion, Douglas, J., 349 U.S. at page 350, 75 S.Ct. at page 800, went further but alone on the question of 'right.' The Court did not discuss that question, much less pass upon it. Slochower v. Board of Higher Education, 1956, 350 U.S. 551, 76 S.Ct. 637, 100 L.Ed. 692, held that the summary dismissal without further evidence by New York of a school teacher because he had pead ed the Fifth Amendment before a United States Senate Committee violated due process. The case merely touched on the 'right' to plead the Fifth Amendment, not to 'property' rights. Truax v. Raich, 1915, 239 U.S. 33, 36 S.Ct. 7, 60 L.Ed. 131; Allgeyer v. State of Louisiana, 1897, 165 U.S. 578, 17 S.Ct. 427, 41 L.Ed. 832, and Powell v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1888, 127 U.S. 678, 8 S.Ct. 992, 1257, 32 L.Ed. 253, were equal protection cases wherein discrimination was claimed. Greene alleges no discrimination.
See Bailey v. Richardson, 86 U.S.App.D.C. 248, 182 F.2d 46, affirmed by an equally divided Court, 1951, 341 U.S. 918, 71 S.Ct. 669, 95 L.Ed. 1352; Peters v. Hobby, 1955, 349 U.S. 331, 75 S.Ct. 790, 99 L.Ed. 1129.
Report of the Commission on Government Security (1957), S.Doc. No. 64, 85th Cong., 1st Sess. 237, n. 7.
'10. When adequate investigation has revealed that there is good cause to suspect an employee of subversive activity on a national defense project of importance to Army or Navy procurement, the vital success f t he project, as well as the security of the loyal employees, may require that the Army or Navy, without revealing the nature or source of its evidence, request the immediate removal of such individual from the project. To this end the cooperation of the organizations representative of organized labor is solicited for the following program: * * *' Clearly this procedure did not anticipate confrontation or cross-examination.
The National Security Act Amendments of 1949, 63 Stat. 578, amended § 213 so as to delete subparagraph 10.
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Army for the Fiscal Year 1949 (1950), 192.
House of Representativs, Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on the National Military Establishment Appropriation Bill for 1950, 81st Cong., 1st Sess. 91.
'Mr. Mahon. Under that (the contingency fund) you can buy a boy a top, or a toy, provided the Secretary of Defense thinks it is proper?
'Gen. Moore. That is right, and we come down here and explain to this committee with respect to this in a very secret session how much we have spent and precisely what we have spent it for.' House of Representatives, Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on Department of Defense Appropriations for 1956, 84th Cong., 1st Sess. 780.

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