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ISCR 20-02508: Guideline H security clearance hearing, denied (2021) · CASE

ISCR Case 20-02508denied

Case headnote

ISCR Case No. 20-02508

deniedOct 18, 2021· Hon. LeRoy F. Foreman· hearing

Summary

A 33-year-old composite material worker was denied a security clearance under Guideline H (Drug Involvement) due to his admitted marijuana use from approximately August 2004 to November 2019. The applicant acknowledged using marijuana with varying frequency for 15 years, including during his employment with a defense contractor.

Disqualifying conditions were raised under Adjudicative Guidelines Paragraphs 25(a) and 25(c), which address drug involvement. While mitigating conditions under Paragraphs 26(a) and 26(b) were considered, they were ultimately insufficient to overcome the security concerns.

The denial was based on several factors: the applicant's extensive history of marijuana use, his failure to provide evidence of disassociating from drug-using associates, and his lack of demonstrated changes in his environment regarding drug use. The long-term nature of his drug use raised significant concerns about his reliability and willingness to comply with laws and regulations.

Why the applicant was denied

The applicant admitted to using marijuana frequently for 15 years, including while employed by a defense contractor.
He did not provide evidence of disassociating from drug-using associates or changing his environment regarding drug use.
The applicant's long-term drug use raised questions about his reliability and willingness to comply with laws.

Conditions referenced

Disqualifying

AG ¶ 25(a)raisedSubstance Misuse
AG ¶ 25(c)raisedIllegal Possession of a Controlled Substance

Mitigating

AG ¶ 26(a)rejectedBehavior Happened so Long AgoThe applicant's marijuana use was recent and frequent, undermining the likelihood of recurrence.
AG ¶ 26(b)rejectedAcknowledgment of Drug Involvement and Actions Taken to Overcome ItThe applicant did not provide evidence of rehabilitation or a signed statement of intent to abstain.

Key rule quoted

“Eligibility for a security clearance is predicated upon the applicant meeting the criteria contained in the adjudicative guidelines.”

Procedural posture

SOR issuedDec 21, 2020
Answer filedJan 27, 2021
Hearing held—Requested a decision on the written record without a hearing.
Decision dateOct 18, 2021

Cite for

Denial of Security Clearance Due to Long-term Drug Involvement Under Guideline H
Failure to Demonstrate Rehabilitation or Changed Circumstances After Drug Use
Importance of Providing Evidence of Disassociation From Drug-using Associates in Security Clearance Cases

Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.

From the decision

Facts this decision states, each with the exact sentence it comes from. Descriptive of the record, not an assessment.

Age at decision: 33: “Applicant is a 33-year-old composite material worker employed by a defense contractor since November 2018.”
Tenure: ~3 years: “Applicant is a 33-year-old composite material worker employed by a defense contractor since November 2018.”
Held a clearance before: No: “He has never held a security clearance.”

Standardized Decision Profile

SEAD-4 Guideline H (Drug Involvement) · descriptive summary of a decided case

Posture: Decision on RecordDecided: denied

The judge found that the applicant used marijuana with varying frequency from about August 2004 to November 2019. The formal finding was against the applicant, indicating that the drug involvement raised security concerns under Guideline H.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Substance / event	Use level	Response	Disqualifying (¶25)	Mitigating applied (¶26)	Mitigation

Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case. The verbatim source decision is shown in full below.

Full decision

The complete, official text, footnotes and signatures included, is in the original PDF.

Decision text, by section

DEFENSE OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS

HEARING

APPEARANCES

______________ ______________ DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEFENSE OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS In the matter of: ) ) [Redacted] ) ISCR Case No. 20-02508 ) Applicant for Security Clearance ) Appearances For Government: Tara R. Karoian, Esq., Department Counsel For Applicant: Pro se 10/18/2021

STATEMENT OF CASE

FOREMAN, LeRoy F., Administrative Judge: This case involves security concerns raised under Guideline H (Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse). Eligibility for access to classified information is denied. Statement of the Case Applicant submitted a security clearance application (SCA) on March 12, 2020. On December 21, 2020, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Consolidated Adjudications Facility (CAF) sent him a Statement of Reasons (SOR) alleging security concerns under Guideline H. The DOD CAF acted under Executive Order (Exec. Or.) 10865, Safeguarding Classified Information within Industry (February 20, 1960), as amended; DOD Directive 5220.6, Defense Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Review Program (January 2, 1992), as amended (Directive); and the adjudicative guidelines (AG) implemented by the DOD on September 1, 2006, and the adjudicative guidelines (AG) promulgated in Security Executive Agent Directive 4, National Security Adjudicative Guidelines (December 10, 2016). Applicant answered the SOR on January 27, 2021, and requested a decision on the written record without a hearing. Department Counsel submitted the Government’s

written case on April 15, 2021. A complete copy of the file of relevant material (FORM) was sent to Applicant, who was given an opportunity to file objections and submit material to refute, extenuate, or mitigate the Government’s evidence. He received the FORM on July 1, 2021, and he responded on August 6, 2021. His response is included in the record as Applicant’s Exhibit A and is admitted in evidence. The case was assigned to me on September 22, 2021. The FORM included a summary of a personal subject interview (PSI) conducted on April 8, 2020. (FORM Item 4.) The PSI summary was not authenticated as required by Directive ¶ E3.1.20. Department Counsel informed Applicant that he was entitled to comment on the accuracy of the PSI summary; make any corrections, additions, deletions or updates; or object to consideration of the PSI summary on the ground that it was not authenticated. Applicant responded to the FORM but did not comment on the accuracy or completeness of the PSI summary, nor did he object to it. I conclude that he waived any objections to the PSI summary. Although pro se applicants are not expected to act like lawyers, they are expected to take timely and reasonable steps to protect their rights under the Directive. ISCR Case No. 12-10810 at 2 (App. Bd. Jul. 12, 2016).

FINDINGS OF FACT

In Applicant’s answer to the SOR, he admitted the single allegation that he used marijuana with varying frequency from about August 2004 to November 2019. His admission is incorporated in my findings of fact. Applicant is a 33-year-old composite material worker employed by a defense contractor since November 2018. He has never held a security clearance. Applicant graduated from high school in February 2006. He attended some college courses in 2018 but did not receive a degree. He has never married and has no children. When Applicant submitted his SCA, he disclosed that he used marijuana two or three times a week from about August 2004 to November 2019. He stated that he did not intend to use marijuana in the future because he had “no desire.” (FORM Item 3 at 32.) When Applicant was interviewed by a security investigator in April 2020, he told the investigator that he first used marijuana from January to April 2014 but stopped while he was on probation for vandalism from April 2004 to August 2006. He disclosed that he resumed his marijuana use in August 2006, with his use varying from very infrequent with multiple month breaks to two or three times a week. He occasionally purchased marijuana, but he usually obtained it from friends and social acquaintances. (FORM Item 4 at 4.) In his response to the FORM, he stated, “I have never used any substances while at work on [the contractor’s] property.”

POLICIES

“[N]o one has a ‘right’ to a security clearance.” Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518, 528 (1988). As Commander in Chief, the President has the authority to “control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to have access to such information.” Id. at 527. The President has authorized the Secretary of Defense or his designee to grant applicants eligibility for access to classified information “only upon a finding that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to do so.” Exec. Or. 10865 § 2. Eligibility for a security clearance is predicated upon the applicant meeting the criteria contained in the adjudicative guidelines. These guidelines are not inflexible rules of law. Instead, recognizing the complexities of human behavior, an administrative judge applies these guidelines in conjunction with an evaluation of the whole person. An administrative judge’s overarching adjudicative goal is a fair, impartial, and commonsense decision. An administrative judge must consider all available and reliable information about the person, past and present, favorable and unfavorable. The Government reposes a high degree of trust and confidence in persons with access to classified information. This relationship transcends normal duty hours and endures throughout off-duty hours. Decisions include, by necessity, consideration of the possible risk that the applicant may deliberately or inadvertently fail to safeguard classified information. Such decisions entail a certain degree of legally permissible extrapolation about potential, rather than actual, risk of compromise of classified information. Clearance decisions must be made “in terms of the national interest and shall in no sense be a determination as to the loyalty of the applicant concerned.” Exec. Or. 10865 § 7. Thus, a decision to deny a security clearance is merely an indication the applicant has not met the strict guidelines the President and the Secretary of Defense have established for issuing a clearance. Initially, the Government must establish, by substantial evidence, conditions in the personal or professional history of the applicant that may disqualify the applicant from being eligible for access to classified information. The Government has the burden of establishing controverted facts alleged in the SOR. See Egan, 484 U.S. at 531. “Substantial evidence” is “more than a scintilla but less than a preponderance.” See v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., 36 F.3d 375, 380 (4th Cir. 1994). The guidelines presume a nexus or rational connection between proven conduct under any of the criteria listed therein and an applicant’s security suitability. See ISCR Case No. 15-01253 at 3 (App. Bd. Apr. 20, 2016). Once the Government establishes a disqualifying condition by substantial evidence, the burden shifts to the applicant to rebut, explain, extenuate, or mitigate the facts. Directive ¶ E3.1.15. An applicant has the burden of proving a mitigating condition,

and the burden of disproving it never shifts to the Government. See ISCR Case No. 02- 31154 at 5 (App. Bd. Sep. 22, 2005). An applicant “has the ultimate burden of demonstrating that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to grant or continue his security clearance.” ISCR Case No. 01- 20700 at 3 (App. Bd. Dec. 19, 2002). “[S]ecurity clearance determinations should err, if they must, on the side of denials.” Egan, 484 U.S. at 531.

ANALYSIS

Guideline H, Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse The concern under this guideline is set out in AG ¶ 24: The illegal use of controlled substances, to include the misuse of prescription and non-prescription drugs, and the use of other substances that cause physical or mental impairment or are used in a manner inconsistent with their intended purpose can raise questions about an individual's reliability and trustworthiness, both because such behavior may lead to physical or psychological impairment and because it raises questions about a person's ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations. Controlled substance means any "controlled substance" as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802. Substance misuse is the generic term adopted in this guideline to describe any of the behaviors listed above. Applicant’s admission in his answer to the SOR and the information in the FORM are sufficient to raise the following disqualifying conditions under this guideline: AG ¶ 25(a): any substance misuse (see above definition); and AG ¶ 25(c): illegal possession of a controlled substance, including cultivation, processing, manufacture, purchase, sale, or distribution; or possession of drug paraphernalia. AG ¶¶ 25(a) and 25(c) are established by Applicant’s admissions. The following mitigating conditions are potentially applicable: AG ¶ 26(a): the behavior happened so long ago, was so infrequent, or happened under such circumstances that it is unlikely to recur or does not cast doubt on the individual's current reliability, trustworthiness, or good judgment; and AG ¶ 26(b): the individual acknowledges his or her drug involvement and substance misuse, provides evidence of actions taken to overcome this problem, and has established a pattern of abstinence including, but not limited to: (1) disassociation from drug-using associates and contacts; (2)

changing or avoiding the environment where drugs were used; and (3) providing a signed statement of intent to abstain from all drug involvement and substance misuse, acknowledging that any future involvement or misuse is grounds for revocation of national security. Neither mitigating condition is established. Applicant’s marijuana use was frequent and did not occur under circumstances making recurrence unlikely. He acknowledged his marijuana use in his SCA and in his response to the FORM, but he carefully parsed his response to the FORM, stating only that he has not used marijuana on the contractor’s property. The first prong of AG ¶ 26(a) (happened so long ago) focuses on whether the drug involvement was recent. There are no bright line rules for determining when conduct is recent. The determination must be based on a careful evaluation of the totality of the evidence. If the evidence shows a significant period of time has passed without any evidence of misconduct, then an administrative judge must determine whether that period of time demonstrates changed circumstances or conduct sufficient to warrant a finding of reform or rehabilitation. ISCR Case No. 02-24452 at 6 (App. Bd. Aug. 4, 2004). Applicant’s abstinence from marijuana use since November 2019 is a “significant period of time,” but the mitigating impact of his abstinence is limited by his admitted use of marijuana for 15 years, including one year while he was employed by a defense contractor. His long-term use of marijuana in violation of federal law raises questions about his ability or willingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations. He submitted no evidence that he has disassociated from drug-using associates and contacts or that he has changed or avoided the environment where drugs were used. He has not provided a signed statement of intent to abstain from all drug involvement and substance misuse and acknowledged that any future involvement or misuse is grounds for revocation of national security. Because he requested a determination on the record without a hearing, I had no opportunity to evaluate his credibility and sincerity based on demeanor. See ISCR Case No. 01-12350 at 3-4 (App. Bd. Jul. 23, 2003). Based on the totality of the evidence, I am not convinced that he will continue his abstinence from marijuana use once the pressure of qualifying for a security clearance is removed.

WHOLE PERSON CONCEPT

Under AG ¶ 2(c), the ultimate determination of whether to grant eligibility for a security clearance must be an overall commonsense judgment based upon careful consideration of the guidelines and the whole-person concept. In applying the whole- person concept, an administrative judge must evaluate an applicant’s eligibility for a security clearance by considering the totality of the applicant’s conduct and all relevant circumstances. An administrative judge should consider the nine adjudicative process factors listed at AG ¶ 2(d): (1) the nature, extent, and seriousness of the conduct; (2) the circumstances surrounding the conduct, to include knowledgeable

participation; (3) the frequency and recency of the conduct; (4) the individual’s age and maturity at the time of the conduct; (5) the extent to which participation is voluntary; (6) the presence or absence of rehabilitation and other permanent behavioral changes; (7) the motivation for the conduct; (8) the potential for pressure, coercion, exploitation, or duress; and (9) the likelihood of continuation or recurrence. I have incorporated my comments under Guideline H in my whole-person analysis and applied the adjudicative factors in AG ¶ 2(d). After weighing the disqualifying and mitigating conditions under Guideline H, and evaluating all the evidence in the context of the whole person, I conclude Applicant has not mitigated the security concerns raised by his drug involvement.

FORMAL FINDINGS

I make the following formal findings on the allegations in the SOR: Paragraph 1, Guideline H: AGAINST APPLICANT Subparagraph 1.a: Against Applicant

CONCLUSION

I conclude that it is not clearly consistent with the national security interests of the United States to grant Applicant eligibility for access to classified information. Clearance is denied. LeRoy F. Foreman Administrative Judge