Opinion ID: 161861
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 27 At the threshold Department has urged that any judicial review of Duane's claim is barred by Department of Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988). Egan held that the Navy's substantive decision to revoke or deny a security clearance--along with the factual findings made by the AJ in reaching that decision--was not subject to review on its merits by the Merit Systems Protection Board (id.). That is so because unless Congress specifically has provided otherwise, courts traditionally have been reluctant to intrude upon the authority of the Executive in military and national security affairs (id.). While Egan explicitly applied only to review by an external administrative board, we have joined other circuits in extending the Egan holding to any external review (including judicial review) of security clearance decisions (see, e.g., Beattie v. Boeing Co., 43 F.3d 559, 565 (10th Cir. 1994)). Accord, such cases as Stehney v. Perry, 101 F.3d 925, 932 (3d Cir. 1996); Becerra v. Dalton, 94 F.3d 145, 148-49 (4th Cir. 1996); and Dorfmont v. Brown, 913 F.2d 1399, 1401 (9th Cir. 1990)). 28 We would therefore have no jurisdiction to review Department's security clearance decision on its merits. We are not, however, precluded from reviewing a claim that an agency violated its own procedural regulations when revoking or denying a security clearance, and we may relatedly compel an agency to follow its own regulations (Hill v. Department of Air Force, 844 F.2d 1407, 1412 (10th Cir. 1988)). 29 Department argues that Duane has attempted to evade the restriction of Egan by re-framing what is essentially a challenge to the merits of the AJ's decision as a challenge to the procedure followed by the agency. To that end Department argues that Duane's claim is properly understood as a challenge to the administrative judge's consideration of Duane's lies concerning the frequency of his drug use to corroborate the [Questionnaire] charge and to rebut Duane's mitigating evidence. That characterization is simply not supported by the record. Duane has not asked us to review the merits of the administrative decision. Instead he has limited the issues to (1) whether Department properly followed its own regulations by permitting the revocation of his security clearance on the grounds used by the AJ and (2) whether Duane was prejudiced by any failure to follow those regulations. We have jurisdiction to review those issues. Revocation of Clearance 30 As to Duane's contention that the AJ's decision upholding the revocation of his security clearance violated Department regulations, it is of course conventional wisdom that agencies must abide by their own regulations (Fort Stewart Sch. v. Federal Labor Relations Auth., 495 U.S. 641, 654 (1990)). If however it is clear that a party understood the issue that formed the basis of the administrative decision and received a full opportunity to litigate that issue, there is no basis for finding a violation of the agency's regulations even if the administrative complaint had been somehow deficient (Facet Enters., Inc. v. NLRB, 907 F.2d 963, 972 (10th Cir. 1990)). It is likewise plain that there is no right to a security clearance, so that full-scale due process standards do not apply to cases such as Duane's (Egan, 484 U.S. at 528; Hill, 844 F.2d at 1411). 31 Here Department has established this personnel security standard (32 C.F.R. 154.6(b)): 32 [W]hether, based on all available information, the person's loyalty, reliability, and trustworthiness are such that entrusting the person with classified information or assigning the person to sensitive duties is clearly consistent with the interests of national security. 33 Department regulations require that applicants be provided with a Statement of Reasons that shall be as detailed and comprehensive as the national security permits before making any final unfavorable clearance decision (32 C.F.R. Pt. 155 App. A Item 3). Those final decisions consider a number of aggravating and mitigating factors, including the nature and seriousness of the facts, circumstances, or conduct, the frequency of the conduct and the extent to which the conduct was negligent, willful, voluntary, or undertaken with knowledge of the circumstances or consequences involved (Department's Directive (Directive) 5220.6 F.4). 6 34 Duane highlights several differences between the charges in the Statement and the AJ's findings. First he points out that the Statement charged him with failing to disclose on the Questionnaire that he had used marijuana until 1981, while the AJ found he had last used marijuana in 1974. That difference is immaterial--the essence of that charge was that Duane failed to disclose his past marijuana use on the Questionnaire. Simply because the judge found that Duane used marijuana between 1970 and 1974 instead of continuing until 1981 has no effect on the ultimate question whether Duane gave a misleading answer on the Questionnaire. 35 Second, the Statement charged Duane with having misrepresented in the Kerno interview that he had not used drugs after 1974. That charge was rejected by the AJ, who nevertheless found that Duane had misrepresented the frequency of his drug use when he told Kerno he had used marijuana just 12 times. Duane asserts that the Statement was deficient because it failed to charge him specifically with having misrepresented the frequency of his marijuana usage. Though the district court found there was merit to that argument, it also found that Duane was not prejudiced by any deficiency in the Statement. We agree. 36 In assessing whether a party can be held liable for an allegation not charged in an administrative complaint, we have said that the central inquiry is fairness: considering the circumstances of the case, did [the party] know what conduct was being alleged and have a fair opportunity to present [its] defense? (Facet Enters., 907 F.2d at 972). In other words, [a]s long as a party to an administrative proceeding is reasonably apprised of the issues in controversy, and is not misled, the notice is sufficient (Savina Home Indus., Inc. v. Secretary of Labor, 594 F.2d 1358, 1365 (10th Cir. 1979)). 37 We have consistently followed that rule in reviewing the administrative decisions of other agencies. For example, in NLRB v. I.W.G., Inc., 144 F.3d 685, 687-88 (10th Cir. 1998) we held that the defendant did not have a fair opportunity to present a defense to a charge when the formal charges made no mention of that allegation and the defendant had no notice before or during the hearing that the charge was at issue. In Wyoming v. Alexander, 971 F.2d 531, 542-43 (10th Cir. 1992) we similarly held that Wyoming did not have a fair opportunity to present a defense when the administrative board issued its decision based on an issue that it had raised sua sponte without prior notice. 38 Conversely, in Facet Enterprises, 907 F.2d at 974 we held that the defendant had constructive notice of an alternate theory of liability not described in the formal charge when the agency detailed that theory during its opening argument and at other points during the hearing and when the defendant's conduct revealed that it understood and attempted to defend against that theory. Similarly, we held in NLRB v. Tricor Prods., Inc., 636 F.2d 266, 271 (10th Cir. 1980) that the issue of the constructive discharge of an employee was fairly tried when the only witnesses to the incident testified about it at the hearing even though that issue had not been specifically charged. 39 This case falls into the latter category. Duane was undisputably on notice of the single allegation that the AJ sustained against him: the failure to disclose his use of marijuana on the Questionnaire. 7 That the AJ found the evidence supported a conclusion that Duane had used marijuana during 1970-74 instead of until 1981 affects only the scope of Duane's misrepresentation, not the misrepresentation itself. That minor variance between the allegation and the AJ's finding does not constitute a violation of Department regulations. 40 Moreover, there is simply no evidence that Duane was prejudiced in any way. Duane has said that if he had known that the frequency of his total use of marijuana, as well as the fact of his usage during the period 1970-74 (instead of all the way to 1981), would form the basis of the AJ's decision, he would have adopted a number of different hearing strategies. In particular, Duane says he would have (1) presented other witnesses who would have testified that his use of marijuana during college was infrequent, 8 (2) presented testimony from a mathematician who could have explained how the upper bound estimate of 200 times that Duane gave to Snyder could be consistent with the initial estimate of 12 times that he gave to Kerno, (3) testified himself in greater detail about his interview with Kerno and (4) cross-examined Kerno much more thoroughly. 41 None of those tactics would have affected the outcome. 42 Duane did testify in detail about his interviews with Kerno and Snyder. He explained how he calculated the frequency of his marijuana use and how he believed that the different numbers he gave as estimates were not inherently contradictory. He also explained why he omitted any reference to marijuana use in his Questionnaire answers. Duane's attorney confronted Kerno and Snyder on cross-examination as to the differences in their versions of Duane's interviews with them. He also called other witnesses who corroborated both Duane's version of the interview with Snyder and his claim not to have used marijuana since his undergraduate days. 43 After hearing all of that evidence, the AJ made findings of fact and sustained charge 2.a against Duane. Duane admits that he failed to disclose marijuana use on the Questionnaire and that he gave varying estimates of the frequency of his use at different times, ranging from zero to an upper bound of 200. Those admissions formed the basis of the AJ's decision. Additional witnesses from Duane's college years would not have changed those facts, nor would testimony from a mathematician or additional cross-examination of Department's witnesses. Duane received a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue that formed the basis for Department's revocation of his security clearance.