ACEIZE Tracking the current state of Science and Technology

Sorry for the two political articles in one day, space nerds and future freaks. Politics rules the day. Unfortunately, politics plays an important role in shaping our future, and so I consider this germane to ACEIZE.

The folks at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in California, many of whom worked on the Galileo Probes, the Mars Rovers, etc. are launching a class action suit against the federal government and CalTech in a bid to protect their constitutional liberties. Before September 28th all employees of JPL must sign a document permitting extensive background checks or be 'voluntarily terminated'. These background checks will apparently delve into all private matters of the employees at JPL, including 'medical, financial and past employment records, and to question friends and acquaintances about everything from their finances to sex lives.' The suit claims that these investigations constitute 'violations of the Constitution's 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, 14th Amendment protection against invasion of right to privacy, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Privacy Act, and rights under the California Constitution. The information collected on employees will not be available to the employees themselves - which makes sense in a police investigation (except this is not a police investigation).

A group of JPL employees said the new regulation is a choice between 'leaving jobs they love and giving up their constitutional rights.'

Micheal Griffin says 'that it was a "privilege to work within the federal system, not a right".

It seems to me that constitutional liberties are a right, not a privilege. Therefore constitutional liberties are not subject to the permission or discretion of the employer.