Skip to content
CASE
← The Issue Encyclopedia

Issue Encyclopedia · Guideline E · Personal Conduct

Questionable Judgment (general)

What the decided record shows for this issue, computed from public DOHA hearing-level decisions. Descriptive history, not a prediction.

Does questionable judgment (general) affect a security clearance?

Questionable Judgment (general) is an issue decided under Guideline E, Personal Conduct. In the decided DOHA record it appears in 1,431 hearing-level cases, and 24% of the 1,431 decided ended with access granted (349 granted, 1,082 denied). The mitigating conditions judges credited most often, and example decisions either way, are below.

Basis: 1,431 decided hearing-level cases raising this issue. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.

More questions people ask the record

Decided cases

1,431

hearing-level decisions raising this issue

Granted

24%

349 granted · 1,082 denied or revoked

Official mitigating conditions cited

The formal mitigating conditions the case profiles identified on this issue, in cases that were granted and in cases that were denied. Each is shown with its paragraph number and a plain name. Read what each condition says.

  • ¶ 17(c) · Minor, long ago, infrequent, or under unique circumstances

    In granted cases
    121
    In denied cases
    28

  • ¶ 17(d) · The behavior acknowledged, with counseling or other positive steps

    In granted cases
    80
    In denied cases
    13

  • ¶ 17(e) · Steps taken to reduce vulnerability to pressure

    In granted cases
    66
    In denied cases
    12

  • ¶ 17(a) · A prompt, good-faith correction made before being confronted

    In granted cases
    58
    In denied cases
    9

  • ¶ 17(b) · The omission followed advice of counsel, and full cooperation followed

    In granted cases
    40
    In denied cases
    4

  • ¶ 17(g) · The association was unwitting or has ended

    In granted cases
    12
    In denied cases
    3

Circumstances credited in granted cases

The specific circumstances the judge expressly credited among the granted cases on this issue where that detail was extracted.
  • acknowledgment and remorse · credited in 23 granted cases
  • passage of time · credited in 6 granted cases
  • rehabilitation evidence · credited in 3 granted cases
  • corrected falsification promptly · credited in 2 granted cases
  • signed intent with revocation clause · credited in 1 granted case

Recent decided examples

  • ISCR Case No. 25-00040Granted2026

    Applicant, a 32-year-old manager with a physics degree and MBA, faced allegations under Guidelines I and E based on a long history of depression, suicide attempts, hospitalizations, threatening texts,…

  • ISCR Case No. 25-00224Granted2026

    The Appeal Board affirmed the Judge’s grant of eligibility. DoD had raised Guideline E and Guideline G concerns based on Applicant’s long history of alcohol misuse, relapse after stating he would stop…

  • ISCR Case No. 25-01592Denied2026

    The applicant's security clearance was denied due to financial concerns under Guideline F, where he admitted to five delinquent credit card accounts totaling approximately $68,861. Although he took ov…

  • ISCR Case No. 26-00013Denied2026

    The applicant's security clearance was denied due to unresolved security concerns related to drug involvement and criminal conduct. While the applicant mitigated concerns under personal conduct and al…

See all 1,431 decisions on this issue

Related issues under Guideline E

How these numbers are measured

Scope: decided hearing-level cases whose per-allegation profile records this issue, matched to the same issue value the search filters use, so a count here and a filtered search always agree. A case raising several issues counts under each one. The mitigating conditions and the credited circumstances below were extracted for a subset of the record, so both are counts of cases rather than rates. Pages exist only for issues with at least 25 decided cases, and † marks any split built on fewer than 20.

Reading the statistics

  • Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
  • Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
  • † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
  • Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
  • Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.

Where to go from here

Get help with my case

Send us your question, or the Statement of Reasons you received. No charge, and a CASE analyst reads it. Usually five to ten business days.

Ask a question →

I do this for clients

Rank every decision by how closely it matches a matter, see how the assigned judge has ruled, and keep it together with cited exports.

For attorneys and firms →

Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.