Bioethicist Jonathan Marks Raises Concerns About fMRI-based “Lie Detectors” and Coercive Interrogations

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Penn State Live reports on concerns raised by Dr. Jonathan Marks about the premature adoption of fMRI-based lie detectors:

High tech interrogations may promote abuse
Monday, March 17, 2008

University Park, Pa. – There is evidence that brain imaging technology is being used to interrogate suspected terrorists despite concerns that it may not be reliable, and that it might inadvertently promote abuse of detainees, according to a Penn State researcher. He says the risk that such technology could license further abuse of detainees remains ever present, given President Bush’s March 8 veto of legislation that would have prohibited the CIA from conducting aggressive interrogations.

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Nebraska Polygrapher Charles O’Callaghan Named in Federal Lawsuit

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Charles O’Callaghan, a polygraph examiner and Nebraska State Patrol investigator, has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska by Matthew Livers, from whom investigators coerced a false confession after an allegedly failed polygraph examination conducted by O’Callaghan, who is also a member of the Nebraska Association of Polygraph Examiners.

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Why Larry Sinclair’s Polygraph Examination Will Be Evidence of Nothing

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AntiPolygraph.org’s George Maschke has prepared the following commentary on the upcoming polygraph examination of Larry Sinclair, who claims (without evidence to date) that in 1999 he twice performed oral sex on Barack Obama and observed him use crack cocaine. Update (23 Feb 2008): Mr. Sinclair was polygraphed yesterday (Friday, 22 Feb.), evidently in Los Angeles, … Read more

Politics, Publicity Stunts, and Polygraphs: Obama Accuser Larry Sinclair Accepts WhiteHouse.com’s $100,000 Polygraph Challenge

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On 18 January 2008, a Mr. Larry Sinclair of Duluth, Minnesota posted to YouTube a video statement entitled “OBAMA’S LIMO SEX & DRUG PARTY” in which he made sensational allegations against Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and challenged him to a polygraph showdown. Mr. Sinclair has to date presented no evidence to corroborate his claims. … Read more

American Polygraph Association Disapproves Fox’s Moment of Truth Lie Detector Show

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Scott Michels reports for ABC News in “Is the Truth Worth $500,000?”: Is the Truth Worth $500,000? ‘Truth’ or Fiction? Polygraph Association Questions New Reality Show By SCOTT MICHELS Dec. 13, 2007— Hook someone up to a lie detector. Ask personal questions. Watch the person squirm. That’s the premise of the new Fox TV reality … Read more

Robert Bazell Sheds Light on Lie Detectors

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MSNBC chief science and health correspondent Dr. Robert Bazell comments on the U.S. Government’s persistent but misplaced reliance on polygraphy in his “Second Opinion” column: Shedding light on lies — and lie detectors Polygraphs persist despite failing science’s truth test By Robert Bazell Chief science and health correspondent updated 9:08 a.m. ET Dec. 4, 2007 … Read more

Prouty and Higazy Cases Demand Congressional Investigation

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In “Polygraph Tests Raise Questions,” retired FBI special agent and scientist Dr. Drew Richardson comments for the Staunton, Virginia News Leader: I have previously written about the tools and trade of national security practice in this column. Topics have included the lack of validity of polygraphic lie detection, the need for recorded interviews and interrogations, … Read more

Symptom Validity Testing

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ScienceDaily reports on an article published in the journal Psychophysiology describing a technique adapted by Maastricht University doctoral student Ewout Meijer and others for use in combination with polygraph-based concealed knowledge testing. The abstract of Meijer et al.’s “Combining skin conductance and forced choice in the detection of concealed information” is cited here: An advantage … Read more

New Jersey Court Rejects Uncounseled Polygraph Stipulations

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Gannett correspondent Michael Rispoli reports for the Asbury Park Press in “Conviction overturned due to polygraph test”: A New Jersey appellate court on Tuesday reversed the sexual molestation conviction of a Union County man due to the unreliability of a lie detector test given to him before he was charged with the crime. The defendant, … Read more