Opinion ID: 3010066
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Members of the individual's immediate family

Text: and any other persons to whom he or she is bound by affection or obligation should neither be subject to physical, mental, or other forms of duress by a foreign power or by persons who may be or have been engaged in criminal activity, nor advocate the use of force or violence to overthrow the Government of the United States or the alteration of the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means. Stehney asserts NSA failed to comply with § 5 because it revoked her security clearance for failure to take a polygraph examination, not because she failed to meet the criteria for access to classified information enumerated in the regulation. Stehney also contends NSA violated DCID 1/14 § 12, which provides in part: When all other information developed on an individual is favorable, a minor investigative requirement that has not been met should not preclude favorable adjudication. . . . The ultimate determination of whether the granting of access is clearly consistent with the interests of national security will be an overall common sense determination based on all available information. Stehney asserts that § 12 requires NSA to make determinations on a whole person standard, which precludes NSA from revoking a security clearance solely because one investigative requirement - - submission to a polygraph examination -- was not met. DCID 1/14 §§ 5 and 12 must be read in context with DCID 1/14 as a whole and in conjunction with other relevant Department of Defense and NSA security clearance process and polygraph regulations, which establish a detailed and coherent scheme for regulating access to classified information. DCID 1/14 §§ 7(e) and 8(d) authorize, and NSA/CSS Reg. No. 122-06 § VI(10) requires, the use of polygraph examinations as part of the security clearance background investigation process. DCID 1/14 Annex A provides, in part: Failure to Cooperate: Failure to provide required security forms, releases, and other data or refusing to undergo required security processing or medical or psychological testing will normally result in a denial, suspension, or revocation of access. NSA/CSS Reg. No. 122-06 provides, in part: Refusal to consent to, or unsatisfactory completion or evaluation of any aspect of the programs and procedures listed in Section VI, when implemented as a requirement for continued access, may result in adverse personnel/administrative actions such as denial of continued access to NSA/CSS protected information and spaces, limitations or denial of additional accesses and/or security courier privileges, denials of TDY/PCS assignment, and/or termination of employment. DoD Reg. 5210.48-R, Ch. 1(A)(5) states, in part: Persons who refuse to take a polygraph examination in connection with determining their continued eligibility for access . . . may be denied access, employment, assignment, or detail. . . . These regulations establish that DCID 1/14 §§ 5 and 12 notwithstanding, refusal to take a polygraph examination constitutes sufficient grounds for revocation of a security clearance. For these reasons, we cannot agree that NSA's actions violated the agency's own regulations. Stehney has not stated a claim in count 1 for which relief may be granted, and the count was properly dismissed.