By: Fitch & Kuntz
Price: $250.00
Edition: 5th/2021
Sku: PDF21SCLP
ISBN: 978-1-941825-96-9; 1-941825-96-6
Samples: Table of Contents ------- Text Sample

New in 2021
Due to many changes in the security clearance arena, the new, Fifth Edition, of the Security Clearance Law and Procedure book has been extensively updated. Major changes include:
- The realignment of the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) into the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) on September 29, 2019, thereby consolidating the security clearance process under the DoD.
- On January 14, 2021, the DoD issued a Memo streamlining security clearance practices so that everyone—DoD civilians, military members, contractors (including those appealing a denial of access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI))—will now have the same procedural protections: a hearing before an Administrative Judge at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA), who will have the authority to issue a decision (not just an advisory opinion), with the option to appeal an adverse decision. These changes are anticipated to take effect no later than September 30, 2022.
- MSPB, EEOC and Department of Energy decisions pertaining to security clearances are now included.
- The first DOHA decisions addressing CBD have been issued, and there is an uptick in medical marijuana decisions.
- In March 2018 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative to overhaul and improve the security clearance process and update the policy framework. The Initiative addresses initial security clearance vetting; continuous vetting (also known as continuous evaluation); upgrades in trust (upgrading a clearance or access to special access programs); transfers of trust between agencies (otherwise known as reciprocity); and reestablishment of trust after leaving a position requiring a clearance.
- SEAD-6, effective January 12, 2018, addresses the ongoing refinement of continuous evaluation procedures and what data is available to the federal government.
- SEAD-2 governing the use of polygraphs in clearance decisions was revised in September 2020.
- SEAD-8 addressing temporary (also known as interim) eligibility for a clearance was issued in May 2020.
Security Clearance Law and Procedure offers agency representatives, employees' attorneys, and union representatives a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of security clearance law. The guide is divided into two parts: Part One—History and Procedural Guide; and Part Two—Adjudicative Guidelines and Case Analyses. The text is further broken into major areas of security clearance jurisprudence with expert discussion of governing case law, adjudicative guidelines, regulations, statutes, and Executive Orders. Case analysis focuses on the issues presented when security clearances are granted, denied, and revoked. Major topics include:
- Security Clearances: One Standard-Many Processes—national standard, federal government process, resources for representing clients
- Gathering Personal Information—the application, background investigation and interview, polygraph, investigation completion
- Suitability, PIV Access, and Other Processes—federal employment suitability, debarment pursuant to a negative determination, contractors, PIV card, Department of Energy access
- Duties of Clearance Holders—periodic reinvestigations, evaluations, self-reporting, whistleblowing, pre-publication clearance
- Initial Concerns About a Clearance—answering the statement of reasons, request for information–interrogatory, preliminary adverse decision notice, responding to the SOR
- DOD Personal Appearances for Federal Employees—appeal of letter of denial/revocation, PSAB decision, procedure, reconsideration/reinstatement, back pay
- DOD Hearing Procedures for Contractors—referral to DOHA, department counsel role, assignment to AJ, procedures, processing time, success rates, research
- Procedural Issues Applicable to Hearings and Personal Appearances—burden of proof, allegations must be in SOR, evidence, witnesses, estoppel, constitutional protections, jurisdiction, summary dispositions, classified information, foreign law, good faith, level of clearance, precedent, similarly situated
- Appeals—procedures, stays, interlocutory appeals, oral argument, briefs, statutory construction, reverse/remand and their arguments, due process, jurisdiction, summary disposition, reconsideration of appeal board decisions
- Cases in the Federal Courts, MSPB, and EEOC
- Adjudicative Guidelines and Case Analyses applying those guidelines
- Policies, Publications, and Websites
Available as a softcover book and/or a PDF file with many useful features delivered on a CD-ROM, USB Flash Drive, or download. Hyperlinks allow the reader to move quickly between the Table of Contents and Index entries and the corresponding portions of the text. Internal hyperlinks serve as a cross-reference feature within the text. Major cases are linked to internet cites so that the entire case can be viewed.
