Supreme Court Upholds Background Checks for Contractors A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal contractors are subject to the same background checks as government employees, including questions about past drug use and mental health issues. "Reasonable investigations of applicants and employees aid the government in ensuring the security of its facilities and in employing a competent, reliable workforce," Justice Samuel Alito Jr. wrote in the majority opinion issued Jan. 19. Contractor employees at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory had filed suit, complaining that questions used in background checks violated their privacy. The employees worked for Cal Tech, which runs JPL under contract for NASA, but they did not work on classified projects. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had blocked the use of questions relating to past drug treatment and open-ended questions asked of references for the employees. The Supreme Court overturned that decision. In a concurring opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that it is “farcical” to believe that any right to privacy “bars the government from ensuring that the Hubble telescope is not used by recovering drug addicts.” Justice Alito said questions used in the background checks had been asked by private employers for decades. Federal employees have been subject to background investigations since 1953; the policy was extended to contractors after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Alito said the Privacy Act protects employees against dissemination of information gathered during background checks. The case is NASA v. Nelson, No. 09-530. Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the decision because she had worked on the case when she was U.S. solicitor general.