U.S. Military to Deploy Hand-Held Lie Detectors

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Bill Dedman of MSNBC shines much-needed light on the U.S. military’s new “Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System” or PCASS. His on-line report, “New Anti-Terror Weapon: Hand-Held Lie Detector” is a must-read and includes documentation obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and a video segment with interviews and a demonstration conducted at the Defense Academy … Read more

U.S. Foists Lie Detectors on Iraqi Government

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Although the U.S. National Academy of Sciences roundly rejected polygraph screening as pseudoscience in a landmark 2002 report, the U.S. Government continues to swear by it. Now the U.S. military in Iraq is soliciting bids to train Iraqi government agencies in the black art of lie detection, as Sharon Weinberger of Wired’s “Danger Blog” reports … Read more

State Department Orders Polygraph Tests in Passport Records Investigation

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Washington Times reporters Bill Gertz and Jon Ward write that the State Department is resorting to the use of lie detectors in its investigation into improper access of the passport records of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. But reliance on a pseudoscientific test that is easily passed using simple countermeasures suggests … Read more

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