Here is a copy of a recent letter I sent to the Director of the FBI as well as my elected representatives after I "failed" a polygraph in the process of my FBI application.  I encourage others to write letters too if you have been affected.  Feel free to use any of the text below, although a personalized letter is obviously more effective.  I will post a followup if I receive any response.

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Mr. Robert S. Mueller III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington DC 20535-0001

Dear Director Mueller,

I am writing to you today to alert you to what I believe is a major flaw in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's hiring practice.  That flaw is the continued reliance on the use of the polygraph as a pre-employment screening tool.  Put simply, polygraphy, like astrology and phrenology is "junk science".  The list of legitimate scientific groups that have official statements condemning the polygraph is extensive.  It includes the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Federation of American Scientists, and the
Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers.  Numerous studies have concluded that the polygraph has no scientific basis.  Yet, the Federal Government, and specifically, the FBI, continues to rely on its results, to the detriment of the Bureau, and ultimately, the nation.

By any measure, eliminating qualified applicants who have already met stringent application requirements, passed written & oral interviews, and met physical fitness standards based on a coin toss would be ludicrous.  However, that is the reality of what is happening today.  By the Bureau's own admission, failure rates for the pre-employment polygraph are as high as fifty percent (The Philadelphia Enquirer, May 20, 2002).  Eliminating up to half of the best and brightest of the applicant pool by mere chance is counterproductive to the hiring process and contrary to the stated values of the Bureau which include "fairness" and "institutional integrity".

Even some of the Bureau's own polygraph experts have spoken out against the polygraph.  Retired Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Drew C. Richardson performed doctoral research in lie detection, and served in the Bureau's polygraph research unit.  He testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, stating:
(Polygraph screening) is completely without any theoretical foundation and has absolutely no validity.
Although there is disagreement amongst scientists about the use of polygraph testing in criminal
matters, there is almost universal agreement that polygraph screening is completely invalid and should
be stopped.
...
Because of the theoretical considerations involving false positive results and because of anecdotal
stories told to me by self-alleged victims of polygraph screening, I believe that the Bureau is
routinely falsely accusing job applicants of drug usage or drug dealing. Not only is this result
irreparably harming these individuals, but it is likely denying the Bureau access to qualified and
capable employees.

Additionally, according to a published report by the National Academy of Sciences:
Polygraph testing yields an unacceptable choice for...employee security screening between too many
loyal employees falsely judged deceptive and too many major security threats left undetected. Its
accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is
insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies.

As you are no doubt aware, the use of polygraphs in pre-employment screening in most of the private sector was made illegal by the 1988 Employee Polygraph Protection Act.  Unfortunately, the Federal Government exempted itself and continues to use this unreliable and scientifically unproven technique in its hiring process.   I am copying my elected representatives on this letter to urge them to introduce legislation which would formally bar the use of the polygraph in all federal employment screening.  Complete legislation would
address the situations of those who have already been damaged by the polygraph, by purging hiring "black lists" and re-instating the employment applications of those who have been denied employment solely because of this pseudoscientific procedure.

As a former applicant with the Bureau who was eliminated from consideration based on a false accusation of deception on the polygraph, this topic holds a personal significance to me, and I hope that this letter will encourage you to halt the use of all polygraph screening at the Bureau.  Doing so will not jeopardize the security of the nation, in fact the opposite is true.  Removing this device from the Bureau's toolkit will eliminate a false sense of security and allow honest applicants to be given a fair and impartial chance at
employment.   I look forward to your reply.

I tell you all the truth, if the headquarters of that agency were blown to hell by al Qaeda I am not certain that I would or could feel any sorrow or remorse for the loss.  

And that's a God damned shame.