Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Norah O’Donnell reports for CBS News that the U.S. Secret Service “wants to polygraph a number of agents and officers involved” in a scandal wherein they allegedly hired prostitutes while in Cartagena, Colombia as part of President Obama’s security detail. It should be noted, however, that the unscientific polygraph is in part responsible for the …
On Sunday, 12 February 2012, the BBC Radio Ulster program Sunday Sequence aired a segment on polygraphy in the wake of news that “an increasing number of Irish companies are asking potential employees to take lie detector tests.” Host William Crawley spoke with polygraph operator Don Cargill, professor of forensic psychology Don Grubin, and AntiPolygraph.org co-founder …
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has backed off from his declaration at a press conference convened to address allegations of sexual harassment that he was “absolutely” willing to do a lie detector test. In an interview with Neil Cavuto of Fox News, Cain conditioned his willingness to do a lie detector test on the willingness …
During a press conference convened yesterday to address allegations of sexual harassment, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain declared that he would “absolutely” be willing to take a lie detector test, though he quickly added, “but I’m not going to do that unless I have a good reason to do that.” Cain’s declaration came in response …
Dennis Engbarth reports for Inter Press Service on the case of Chiang Kuo-ching, a Taiwanese airman who was executed in 1997 for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. Military investigators tortured a confession out of Chiang after he failed to pass a lie detector “test.” Since then, DNA evidence and a palm-print have incriminated a …
Lawyers for Troy Davis, who faces execution by lethal injection at 19:00 hours Eastern time today for the 1991 slaying of an off-duty Savannah police officer, are seeking a polygraph test in a bid to persuade the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to stay the execution. The Davis case has been the subject of much …
In his latest article, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin documents the plight of Greg Thomas, an investigator for the city court system who recently failed a Philadelphia Police Department pre-employment polygraph despite, he insists, having told the truth. Rubin notes that since reinstating polygraph screening this year (it had been discontinued in 2002), the Philadelphia …
Skeptic Kyle Hill, a graduate student at Marquette University who maintains the blog Science-Based Life, takes a look at the evidence for polygraphy in “The Polygraph Test: Can Science Tell if You Are Lying?” He compares the claims made by polygraph advocates such as the American Polygraph Association with the findings of the Congressional Office of …
As the American Polygraph Association holds its annual seminar in Austin, Texas this week, one of the topics on the agenda is a program run by a consortium of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies called “Polygraph Law Enforcement Accreditation” (PLEA). Participating agencies include the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the Defense Criminal Investigative …
Guardian reporter David Hopps reports in a story published by the Sydney Morning Herald that former Australia cricket team captain Steve Waugh is advocating the use of lie detectors in an attempt to root out corruption in the scandal-plagued sport. Excerpt: ANDREW Strauss and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be encouraged to help stamp out corruption …