UNITED STATES v. SCHEFFER, 523 U.S. 303 (1998)



JUSTICE THOMAS announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II-A, and II-D, and an opinion with respect to Parts II-B and II-C, in which THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE SCALIA, and JUSTICE SOUTER joined...


Respondent sought to introduce the polygraph evidence in support of his testimony that he did not knowingly use drugs. The military judge denied the motion, relying on Military Rule of Evidence 707, which provides, in relevant part:

"(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the results of a polygraph examination, the opinion of a polygraph examiner, or any reference to an offer to take, failure to take, or taking of a polygraph examination, shall not be admitted into evidence."

The military judge determined that Rule 707 was constitutional because "the President may, through the Rules of Evidence, determine that credibility is not an area in which a fact finder needs help, and the polygraph is not a process that has sufficient scientific acceptability to be relevant." n2 App. 28...... 

These interests, among others, were recognized by the drafters of Rule 707, who justified the Rule on the following grounds: the risk that court members would be misled by polygraph evidence; the risk that the traditional responsibility of court members to ascertain the facts and adjudge guilt or innocence would be usurped; the danger that confusion of the issues "'could result in the court-martial degenerating into a trial of the polygraph machine;'" the likely waste of time on collateral issues; and the fact that the "'reliability of polygraph evidence has not been sufficiently established.'" See 41 M.J. 683, 686 (USAF Ct. Crim. App. 1995) (citing Manual for Courts-Martial, the United States, App., pp. A22-A46 (1994 ed.)).