continued

Dick Keifer (rhymes with "cipher"), who is a past president of the American Polygraph Association and who retired from the FBI in 1996, also made some interesting claims (quoted from his written statement):

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This is a remarkably vague statement coming from someone who ought to know better. It would seem Mr. Keifer meant to imply that there is a 99% chance that Robert Philip Hanssen would have failed a polygraph screening examination. It is not clear on what basis Mr. Keifer opines this. It seems that considerably fewer than 99% of persons polygraphed who later turned out to be double agents "failed" their polygraph "tests."

Mr. Keifer went on to claim:

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Mr. Keifer didn't say which "scientific studies" support a 99.99% confidence level with regard to decisions to clear people. But since convicted spy Aldrich H. Ames passed two polygraph "tests" while allegedly spying for the Soviet Union and later, Russia, then if Dick Keifer's figures are correct, President Bush ought to pardon Ames (and grant a posthumous pardon to Larry Wu-tai Chin, who was convicted of spying for China, but passed his CIA polygraph "tests."). After all, we can be 99.99% confident that they are innocent.

About a half hour into the hearing, after each witness had delivered his opening statement, Senator Hatch left and turned the hearing over to Senator Spector.

In response to a question, Mr. Keifer (if memory serves) made reference to a study in which polygraph examiners were asked to report on every error they thought they had ever made. The self-reported error rate was less than 1%.

About 50 minutes into the hearing, Senator Durbin spoke. He likened polygraph testing to a trial by ordeal, and said that when he practiced law, he never advised a client to take a polygraph. Senator Durbin asked Mr. Keifer if he conceeded the point that polygraph testing is subjective. Mr. Keifer downplayed subjectivity in counterintelligence-scope polygraph screening, but said that greater leeway was given in incident-specific polygraph interrogations.

In summary, Senator Durbin said something very close to "We're looking for a quick fix. I don't think this is the machine."

Senator Specter described the "mock crimes" used in laboratory studies of polygraphy as a "contrivance," saying it was a "game." He didn't think that real life accuracy will be better than in laboratory studies. He was skeptical of such studies because there were no serious personal consequences for the volunteers.

In response to a question from Senator Specter, former DoDPI director Mike Capps said "We'll never know the validity of polygraph" and downplayed the validity of laboratory studies. However, he did not argue that polygraphy is invalid or should not be relied upon. Rather, he seemed to accept polygraphy as a scientifically valid procedure albeit one for which no precise validity rate can be specified.

Written statements submitted by other individuals were also entered into the record, although such statements were not enumerated at the hearing. The statement which I submitted may be read on AntiPolygraph.org at:

http://antipolygraph.org/hearings/senate-judiciary-2001/maschke-statement.shtml

The hearing ended about an hour after it began, with Senator Specter raising the possibility of a follow-up hearing. After Senator Specter had shaken hands with each of the invited witnesses, I introduced myself to him and presented him with a spiral-bound copy of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector, which he took with him as he exited the hearing room.

Nate,

Thanks for your kind words. When we finally do succeed in abolishing the polygraph, there will be plenty of credit to go around.

You can help in an important way. As a Kansan, you have a senator on the Judiciary Committee: Senator Sam Brownback. As you're probably aware, it is in the Senate Judiciary Committee that the 1988 Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) originated, and it is likely in this committee that any Comprehensive Polygraph Protection Act (eliminating the governmental and other exemptions to the EPPA) will originate.

You should write a brief (not more than a few pages) letter -- not an e-mail -- to Senator Brownback explaining your experience with the polygraph and asking him to support a comprehensive ban on employment-related polygraph "testing." You might also mention AntiPolygraph.org in your letter. His address is:

Senator Sam Brownback
303 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

In addition, you can seek an in-person meeting with Senator Brownback to discuss the polygraph issue. He has offices in several cities in Kansas, which you'll find listed here:

http://www.senate.gov/~brownback/offices.html

You can call the office nearest you to arrange an eventual meeting.

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Fred F, Judge Freeh is not just contemplating retirement--he has actually submitted a resignation, effective some time this June.

Still, your point crossed my mind as well.  I was also jokingly wondering if an upcoming poly has something to do with his early retirement.  But considering the minute probability of an FBI polygrapher actually accusing his boss of deception (regardless of how the charts should be scored), I don't think that this was the case.  If Freeh ever actually were actually polygraphed, as George observed, it would have been nothing more than a publicity stunt.

What interests me most about Judge Freeh's resignation are some of the comments made in his resignation letter.  The letter can be found at:
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/freeh050101.htm

He lists among his accomplishments increasing fairness in the Bureau's hiring practices.

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There may be more minorities working for the Bureau since he took over, but Judge Freeh should be careful not to take too much credit for increasing "fairness in hiring."  It was he, after all, who implemented the Bureau's pre-employment polygraph screening process, despite the fact that virtually no one in academia believes that polygraph screening is valid.

In his statement Judge Freeh also notes that "Respect for the dignity of all...," "Compassion," and "Fairness" are three of the Bureau's five core values.  It appears that these core values are all but forgotten when FBI deals with those who fail pre-employment polygraphs.  As many of you know, these individuals are dismissed from the hiring process on the basis of polygraph results alone.  One would think that a "compassionate," "fair" organization with "respect for the dignity of all" would have a standardized appeal process and at the very least conduct background investigations on these individuals in an attempt to discover polygraph errors that even Attorney General John Ashcroft placed at 15%.