Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Jeff Daniel reports for the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. Excerpt: Now that the Modesto, Calif., case involving Laci Peterson has evolved into the latest high-profile murder turned media spectacle, one of the questions surrounding defendant/husband Scott Peterson will likely be this: Why hasn’t he taken a lie detector test to back up that “not guilty” plea? …
Los Angeles Times staff writers Greg Krikorian and Scott Glover report. Excerpt: Years before Katrina Leung’s arrest for allegedly obtaining secret documents for China, officials at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., suggested that she submit to a polygraph test because of questions about her reliability, according to federal law enforcement officials. But Leung, who allegedly …
Mark Dadigan reports for the Vero Beach Press Journal. Excerpt: The pace of your heartbeats quickens, your breaths deepen and beads of sweat slide down your skin. According to some law-enforcement circles, you’ve probably just lied. Since the 1930s, polygraphs, or lie-detector tests, which theoretically link physiological changes to honesty, have been used as investigative …
Bob Park of the American Physical Society comments on Department of Energy polygraph policy in his weekly What’s New column: The National Academy of Sciences completed its review of scientific evidence on the polygraph (WN 15 Dec 00). The NAS report, “The Polygraph and Lie Detection” (NAS Press, 2003), found polygraph tests to be unacceptable …
The Albuquerque Tribune comments on the Energy Department’s decision to ignore the conclusions of the National Academy of Sciences regarding polygraph screening. Excerpt: It’s like the sequel to a goofy movie: “DOE – Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest.” Sometimes – even giving it the vast benefit of the doubt – the U.S. Department of Energy is infuriating …
Lisa Friedman of the Tri-Valley Herald Washington Bureau reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers and lab weapons scientists said Tuesday they are disappointed with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham for disregarding an 18-month, $800,000 study by the nation’s top scientists that found polygraph testing does not work. “It shows how bankrupt they are,” said Livermore thermonuclear …
AntiPolygraph.org has learned that William “Bill” Cleveland, Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who has admitted to having had a longterm sexual relationship with FBI informant and suspected Chinese double agent Katrina M. Leung, passed a Department of Energy (DOE) counterintelligence-scope polygraph examination. The “Test for Espionage and Sabotage” polygraph format used by DOE includes …
John Fleck reports for the Albuquerque Journal. Excerpt: The Department of Energy wants to continue polygraphs to hunt for spies, bucking a report from federal science advisers who said the technique is flawed. In a notice published Monday, the department announced it wants to keep its polygraph program, which screens nuclear weapons workers in a …
Los Alamos Monitor assistant editor Roger Snodgrass reports. Excerpt: The Department of Energy has rejected the results of an $870,000 study by the National Research Council on the validity of polygraph tests for screening national security risks. DOE said that unless something unexpected arises from public comments, it will continue its current program as is. …
Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico criticizes the Department of Energy’s decision to continue its reliance on polygraph screening: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: CHRIS GALLEGOS APRIL 14, 2003 (202) 224-7082 DOMENICI: DOE WORRIES SHOULDN’T MEAN CONTINUATIONOF FLAWED POLYGRPAH POLICY WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today questioned the Department of Energy intention to continue heavy reliance on …