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Possible to work in Gov/Clerkships w/history of drug use?
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:34 pm
by Anonymous User
Hey all, just wondering the above. AFAIK the background checks ask about any drug use in the past(not 100% sure on this). I also had an MJ charge that was dismissed after DEJ in CA. I'm interested in clerking and possible DOJ/AUSA in the future so if my past would preclude me from these career paths I'd like to know asap. Thanks!
Re: Possible to work in Gov/Clerkships w/history of drug use?
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:45 pm
by texasbama
Ask Trey Radel.
Re: Possible to work in Gov/Clerkships w/history of drug use?
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:23 pm
by anon168
Anonymous User wrote:Hey all, just wondering the above. AFAIK the background checks ask about any drug use in the past(not 100% sure on this). I also had an MJ charge that was dismissed after DEJ in CA. I'm interested in clerking and possible DOJ/AUSA in the future so if my past would preclude me from these career paths I'd like to know asap. Thanks!
Yes, you can.
Re: Possible to work in Gov/Clerkships w/history of drug use?
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:29 pm
by A. Nony Mouse
The DOJ background check that asks about drug use goes back 7 years. Drug use during that time probably isn't an automatic bar, depending on what kind of drug and how extensive the use and when you last used, but you'd have to disclose. (Drug use during law school is probably a bigger deal than drug use before law school.)
Clerkships don't ask about drug use generally but will certainly ask for convictions (possibly arrests - I don't know what this means for charges that were expunged or dismissed). I don't know if disclosing anything like that creates problems (because I have lived a very boring life), but that's where you'd run into it.
IME clerkships don't ask you to fill out the relevant forms (that ask for this stuff) until right before you start work, so I would suggest that if you get an offer, it's worth disclosing at the time you accept, so that if it is going to be a problem, you find out and get it over with and no one's time is wasted. But that's just my take - others may disagree.
DOJ-type federal employers will likely bring this up at an interview - that is, they won't ask you to tell them about your drug use, but they may bring up the background check and what would be an issue. I also believe that when you get the background check materials (much sooner than for clerkships) there's a helpline you can call to determine what will/won't be a problem.
Tl;dr - whether it will bar you from these jobs depends on what drugs, how frequently, for how long, and how far back in your past.