Nelson v. National Aeronautics and Space Admin.
| Decision Date | 11 October 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-56424.,07-56424. |
| Citation | 506 F.3d 713 |
| Parties | Robert M. NELSON; William Bruce Banerdt; Julia Bell; Josette Bellan; Dennis V. Byrnes; George Carlisle; Kent Robert Crossin; Larry R. D'Addario; Riley M. Duren; Peter R. Eisenhardt; Susan D.J. Foster; Matthew P. Golombek; Varoujan Gorjian; Zareh Gorjian; Robert J. Haw; James Kulleck; Sharlon L. Laubach; Christian A. Lindensmith; Amanda Mainzer; Scott Maxwell; Timothy P. McElrath; Susan Paradise; Konstantin Penanen; Celeste M. Satter; Peter M.B. Shames; Amy Snyder Hale; William John Walker; Paul R. Weissman, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, an Agency of the United States; Michael Griffin, Director of NASA, in his official capacity only; United States Department of Commerce; Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce, in his official capacity only; California Institute of Technology, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Dan Stormer, Esq., Virginia Keeny, Hadsell & Stormer, Pasadena, CA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Vesper Mei, Esq., Wendy Ertmer, Esq., DOJ-U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch, Washington, DC, Alexander Pilmer, Esq., Mark T. Cramer, Esq., Mark C. Holscher, Esq., Kirkland & Ellis, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants-Appellees.
D.C. No. CV-07-05669-ODW, Central District of California, Los Angeles.
Before: B. FLETCHER, STEPHEN REINHARDT and MARSHA S. BERZON, Circuit Judges.
Appellants' motion for an injunction pending appeal is granted. Appellants raise serious legal and constitutional questions, and the balance of hardships tips sharply in their favor. See Lopez v. Heckler, 713 F.2d 1432, 1435 (9th Cir.1983), rev'd in part on other grounds, 463 U.S. 1328, 104 S.Ct. 10, 77 L.Ed.2d 1431 (1983), 464 U.S. 879, 104 S.Ct. 221, 78 L.Ed.2d 217 (1983).
Appellants raise various legal and constitutional challenges to appellees' requirement that appellants each complete a questionnaire and execute a waiver for release of information. The questionnaire requires some information to which appellants do not object, such as appellant's name, date of birth, place of birth, and social security number. However, the questionnaire also includes inquiries to which appellants do object, including an inquiry about counseling they may have received. Appellants also object to the general waiver for release of information on the ground that it is overly broad and is not limited to information pertinent to their identity.
Appellees' questionnaire and waiver were adopted to implement Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which requires the promulgation of a federal standard for "secure and reliable forms of identification." Appellees' interest in obtaining the completed forms for the purpose of investigating the identity of appellants is questionable, as the information that may be obtained goes far beyond that purpose. The waiver for release of information form authorizes appellees to perform a background investigation "to obtain any information relating to activities from schools, residential management agents, employers, criminal justice agencies, retail business establishments, or other sources of information." Most appellants have worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for over twenty years; none are required to have...
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