NCJ Number
101326
Date Published
1984
Length
425 pages
Annotation
Testimony in joint hearings before the House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights and the House Subcommittee on Civil Service presents pros and cons regarding the March 11, 1983, Presidential directive on safeguarding national security information. The directive requires persons with access to classified information to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Abstract
It requires those with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information to sign a nondisclosure agreement that includes a provision for prepublication review (Government review of employee writings prior to publication). The directive mandates investigations of unauthorized disclosures, and employees can be fired or otherwise disciplined for failing a polygraph test or for refusing to take such a test. Witnesses opposing the directive include a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, and counsel to the Authors League of America. Arguments against the directive focus on first amendment intrusions and include the potential for prepublication political censorship, unnecessary limitations on information flow, and the unreliability of polygraph results. Representatives of various Federal agencies support the directive as a necessary response to the serious problem of security leaks. They maintain that strict procedures prevent political censorship in prepublication reviews and that polygraph tests are used in the context of other investigative evidence. Appended supplementary material.