legal opinions online

[beech trees]

I thought this might be of interest to the readers:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com

doing a search for 'polygraph' elicited many results:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/casesearch.pl?court=circs&CiRestriction=polygraph

I include the following passage from USA v CORDOBA:

"the district court made the following findings:

       The reliability of polygraph testing fundamentally
       depends on the reliability of the protocol followed
       during the examination. After considering the evi-
       dence and briefing, the court concludes the proposed
       polygraph evidence is not admissible under Fed. R.
       Evid. 702. Although capable of testing and subject to
       peer review, no reliable error rate conclusions are
       available for real-life polygraph testing. Addition-
       ally, there is no general acceptance in the scientific
       community for the courtroom fact-determinative use
       proposed here. Finally, there are no reliable and
       accepted standards controlling polygraphy. Without
       such standards, there is no way to ensure proper pro-
       tocol, or measure the reliability of a polygraph
       examination. Without such standards, the proposed
       polygraph evidence is inadmissible because it is not
       based on reliable `scientific knowledge.'"