Many years ago, before I ever made the decision to go to law school, I worked as a police officer. There were a lot of positives to the job, but responding to domestic violence situations wasn’t one of them. Every domestic violence call was like walking into a powder keg; they are statistically one of the most dangerous situations a police officer will encounter.
Some of them are also downright bizarre. One particularly memorable incident involved a couple having a heated fight over a chocolate mold of the wife’s southern region that hadn’t gone according to plan. Can you feel the romance?
marital disputes and Your Security Clearance
Your marital disputes probably aren’t this messy (and hopefully not physical), but trouble in paradise can come in a lot of different flavors. When marital bliss is as elusive as a good chocolate body-part mold, here are a few things to consider:
1. An arrest is self-reportable at the first available opportunity.
Security Executive Agent Directive 3 requires that a clearance holder self report an “arrest.” Security officials have read into that reporting obligation an implicit requirement that the self reporting be done at the first available opportunity. If you’re arrested for domestic violence (or any other offense), that means the day you bail out of jail – or potentially even from jail. If you report by phone, you should follow-up with an email as soon as possible in order to establish a paper trail.
This may seem obvious, but many clearance holders – either out of embarrassment or ignorance – think they can wait to self report until and unless charges are filed by the prosecutor; or, in some cases, until the case has been resolved. That’s tempting, but it often just compounds the clearance holder’s problems by adding a whole new issue of candor on top of the arrest itself.
One thing to keep in mind, though. If you have charges pending (or potentially pending), you should follow the advice of your criminal defense attorney in what – if anything – he or she feels comfortable with you saying to security officials besides just the bare incontestable facts that you were arrested on (date) for (offenses). Anything beyond that may inadvertently jeopardize rights or defenses you have available to you in the criminal case.
2. The government doesn’t see a line between the personal and the professional when it comes to violence.
Every so often, a clearance holder will ask me what business their boss or security officials have prying into their marriage. “What happens in the privacy of my marriage is between me and my spouse,” is the typical refrain. Unfortunately, the security clearance adjudicative guidelines don’t see it that way. In the government’s eyes, someone who uses physical violence and intimidation in any setting has the potential to be an insider threat. A propensity for violence (real or perceived) lumps the clearance holder in with people like the Fort Hood and Navy Yard shooters. No one wants a co-worker with a short fuse who might go postal one day.
Ideally, you avoid this altogether by taking a step back when tempers get heated and reconvening when both parties are ready for a calm discussion. But if it’s too late for that, at least keep in mind that what feels righteous or good to say in the moment to the cops can really come back to bite you. I’ve read a lot of police reports with phrases and threats that don’t age well, but that the clearance holder insists weren’t meant to be taken literally. If there is any doubt in security officials’ minds about who was at fault in the incident or if it was overblown, inflammatory statements in the police report really won’t help your cause.
3. Don’t underestimate the value of anger management classes and counseling.
Domestic violence arrests are some of the more challenging to mitigate given the specter of potential workplace violence I mentioned above. They also call into question the clearance holder’s judgment, which is a key tenet of the fiduciary relationship between clearance holders and the government.
The most effective way to potentially mitigate these concerns is by demonstrating that you understand them and have made serious, good-faith efforts to address underlying issues. This could mean extracting yourself from a toxic relationship or getting treatment for alcoholism (often a component in domestic violence cases). But it can also mean taking anger management classes and attending therapy – alone, as a couple, or both.
Not surprisingly, these are also some of the same things that criminal defense attorneys often recommend to their clients seeking to resolve a criminal case on favorable terms.
This article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as legal advice. Although the information is believed to be accurate as of the publication date, no guarantee or warranty is offered or implied. Laws and government policies are subject to change, and the information provided herein may not provide a complete or current analysis of the topic or other pertinent considerations. Consult an attorney regarding your specific situation.
