Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
On Wednesday, 21 June 2023, U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough sentenced former FBI intelligence analyst Kendra D. Kingsbury, 50, of Kansas to 46 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Kingsbury is to begin serving her 46-month sentence no later than 21 July 2023. On 18 May 2021, Kingsbury …
In episode 102 of the legal podcast Excited Utterance, Vanderbilt University law professor Edward K. Cheng (@edwardkcheng) interviews Northumbria University senior lecturer in law Kyriakos N. Kotsoglou (@Kyri_Kotsoglou) about the use of polygraphs in the United Kingdom, with an emphasis on Kotsoglou’s new article, “Zombie Forensics: the use of the polygraph and the integrity of …
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, sits for a polygraph “test” and reports on the British Ministry of Justice’s growing reliance on the pseudoscience of polygraphy. Excerpt: The Ministry of Justice introduced compulsory lie detector tests for sex offenders in 2014. But now the controversial technique is poised to become more widespread in the British …
On Tuesday, 15 February 2011, the National Research Council made public its Review of the Scientific Approaches Used During the FBI’s Investigation of the Anthrax Letters, seriously undermining the Bureau’s case against U.S. Army researcher Bruce Ivins, whom the FBI maintains was the sole perpetrator of the anthrax mailings. Polygraphy was not among the scientific …
On Friday, 19 February 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the conclusion of its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks. The DOJ maintains that Dr. Bruce Edwards Ivans, who in 2002 passed a polygraph test regarding the anthrax attacks, was the sole perpetrator. In an investigative summary (640 kb PDF), the DOJ characterizes Ivins’ passing of …
Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report comments in his Washington Whispers column: “Oh, no you won’t” is the reaction of cops and other first responders to an almost rude FBI decision to ask its Joint Terrorism Task Force members to take a lie detector test. To the FBI, it’s a smart move: Since …
The Associated Press reports in a story published by MSNBC.com under the title, “FBI at first dismissed tip on Nichols explosives.” Excerpt: WASHINGTON – The FBI initially dismissed a tip that convicted bomber Terry Nichols had hidden explosives and they might be used for an attack this month coinciding with the anniversary of the Oklahoma …
The following Canadian Press report was published on GlobeandMail.com: Montreal — A polygraph expert testified Monday that he believes suspected sleeper agent Adil Charkaoui told the truth when he denied in a lie detector test having any links to terrorists. Mr. Charkaoui, who has been in detention since May, 2003, on a national security certificate, …
Eric Lichtblau reports for the New York Times: WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 – Justice Department investigators have sought to have senior federal prosecutors take polygraph examinations in an effort to determine who leaked the name of a confidential informant in a Detroit terrorism case that has become a major embarrassment for the department, officials said Friday. …
The Defense Department’s Technical Support Working Group made the following announcement on 1 June 2004: June 1, 2004 – The Investigative Support and Forensics (IS&F) subgroup of TSWG began a DHS-funded task for the development of a polygraphy chair and associated software. Atlas will develop a standoff measurement system that can unobtrusively gather physiological and/or …