Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Chris Summers reports for BBC News Online in an article titled, “Confessions of a serial killer.” Excerpt: When Gary Leon Ridgway stands up in a Seattle court on Wednesday and admits 48 counts of aggravated first degree murder he will officially become America’s most prolific serial killer. It is not a very good advertisement for …
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer Christy Gutowski reports on the case of Kevin Liszka in an article titled, “‘The perfect mark.’” Excerpt: As Kevin Liszka sat in a police department holding cell for three days, he remained confident authorities would realize they had the wrong man. Instead, police hauled Liszka off to the DuPage County …
Richard Willing reports for USA Today. Excerpt: PHILADELPHIA — In a quiet corner of the University of Pennsylvania campus, professor Britton Chance is using near-infrared light to peek at lies as they form in the brains of student volunteers. Eventually, Chance hopes to see something else: a day when a device like his replaces the …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: TELLER ON POLYGRAPH In the perennial dispute over the legitimacy of polygraph testing as a tool for security screening of government employees, the late physicist Edward Teller sided with his scientific colleagues at the national laboratories …
In an article titled, “Investigators open Guantanamo probe,” the Associated Press reports that the commander of the Camp Delta detention center at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station is considering polygraph interrogations for personnel working at the facility. Excerpt: GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba – Two dozen investigators began searching for possible security breaches yesterday at …
Ajay Bhardwaj reports for the Edmonton Sun. Cops and the City of Camrose are lauding a new lie-detector-type tool even though critics say it gives police the power to intimidate people accused of committing crimes. The computer voice-stress analyser (CVSA), which purports to pick up tremors in the voice when a person is lying, is …
NBC30.com reports: BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A retired state trooper’s lawsuit against a former supervisor in the state police polygraph unit is being allowed to proceed. U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill refused this week to dismiss retired Trooper Adrienne Lamorte’s lawsuit that claims she was subject to retaliation after raising some questions about the accuracy of …
Canada.com reports: VANCOUVER (CP) – Lie detector technology less costly than controversial polygraphs is catching on among smaller Canadian police forces, scaring some doctors who say it’s even less reliable. The computerized voice stress analyser (CVSA), which purports to pick up tremors in the voice when a person is lying, “isn’t more than 50 per …
CNN reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House pledged full cooperation Wednesday with a Justice Department probe into the leak of a CIA operative’s name and has followed proper procedures so far, a spokesman told reporters Wednesday. Press secretary Scott McClellan strongly intimated that President Bush would expect White House aides to take polygraph …
As reported by Wayne Washington of the Boston Globe in an article titled, “US Begins criminal probe of CIA leak,” Senator Dick Durbin raised the question on the floor of the U.S. Senate in the context of the Justice Department investigation into who leaked Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA employee: Speaking on the Senate …