“Judge Seeks Support for Polygraph Tests”

Kimball Perry of the Cincinnati Post reports that Presiding Judge Robert S. Kraft of the General Division of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas will ask judges to support expanded use of tax-payer funded polygraph “tests.” Judge Kraft has previously urged that polygraph “tests” be used in all felonies.

Judge Kraft needs to know about the lie behind the lie detector. He should also be made aware of the case of Floyd “Buzz” Fay of Perrysburg, Ohio, who was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison based on polygraph “evidence.” (See pp. 264-67 of the 2nd ed. of David T. Lykken’s A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector.)

You can write a letter to Judge Kraft at the following address:

Judge Robert S. Kraft
Hamilton County Court House
1000 Main Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Alternatively, you can call through the court administrator, Mike Watson at (513) 946-5900 or send a fax at (513) 946-5800.

“Bush Campaign Wants Lie Tests”

Vincent Morris and Deborah Owen of the New York Post report that “George W. Bush staffers offered to take lie-detector tests yesterday as they pressed the FBI to solve the mystery of whether a mole gave a debate prep video to rival Al Gore’s camp.”

Mr. Bush’s staffers need to learn about the lie behind the lie detector.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Officers to Undergo Lie-Detector “Tests”

Lincoln Wright of the Canberra Times reports that ASIO officers “will be the first to undergo a new trial of lie-detector tests after the Howard Government endorsed a report recommending tougher rules to fix leaks of national security secrets.”

Australia should learn from America’s mistakes, not repeat them.

DoD Plans to Expand Reliance on Polygraphy

In his electronic newsletter, Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy reports on Department of Defense plans to expand reliance on polygraphy. DoD’s FY 1999 polygraph report states:

In an effort to eliminate or reduce the number of unauthorized disclosures of classified information to the media, we plan to implement a new policy. As a condition for access to Top Secret, SCI or higher information, DoD military, civilian personnel and contractor employees will sign a form certifying that they are willing to undergo a specific issue polygraph examination if classified information they had access to has been leaked. We believe this will serve as a deterrent to individuals who may be considering leaking classified information.

In 1982, a polygraph dragnet for the source of a leak in the 30-member Defense Resources Board failed to find the leaker, but did lead to John Tillson, director of manpower management at the Pentagon being falsely accused. He was exonerated only when reporter George Wilson of the Washington Post assured Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger that Tillson was not the leaker. Polygraph hunts for leakers also led to Marine colonel Robert McFarlane (1982) and Assistant Undersecretary of Defense Michael Pillsbury (1986) being falsely accused. (See D.T. Lykken’s A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector, pp. 216-18) If you have further information about DoD’s planned expansion of polygraphy, please contact Antipolygraph.org.