Ruling on a lawsuit brought by researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the court upholds the personal background checks required of thousands of people who work under government contracts.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the personal background checks now required of scientists and thousands of others who work under government contracts, ruling that questions about drug use and other personal matters do not violate their privacy rights under the Constitution.

Read the article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/sc-dc-0120-court-privacy-web-20110119,0,6792617.story

When Illinois facilities that care for disabled people hire new staff, they are required to conduct criminal background checks. For most applicants, licenses must be verified.

But many facilities don’t have to check whether new hires have ever been cited for abusing children — either their own kids or those living in care centers. Read more…