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Feds Seek Prison For Man Who Taught How To Beat a Polygraph

George Maschke writes "In a case with serious First Amendment implications, McClatchy reports that federal prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence for Chad Dixon of Indiana, who committed the crime of teaching people how to pass or beat a lie detector test. Some of his students passed polygraphs and went on to be hired by federal agencies. A pleading filed by prosecutors all but admits that polygraph tests can be beaten. The feds have also raided and seized business records from Doug Williams, who has taught many more people how to pass or beat a polygraph over the past 30 years. Williams has not been criminally charged. I'm a co-founder of AntiPolygraph.org (we suggest using Tor to access the site) a non-profit, public interest website dedicated to exposing and ending waste, fraud, and abuse associated with the use of lie detectors. We offer a free e-book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector (1 mb PDF) that explains how to pass a polygraph (whether or not one is telling the truth). We make this information available not to help liars beat the system, but to provide truthful people with a means of protecting themselves against the high risk of a false positive outcome. As McClatchy reported last week, I received suspicious e-mails earlier this year that seemed like an attempted entrapment. Rather than trying to criminalize teaching people how to pass a polygraph, isn't it time our government re-evaluated its reliance on the pseudoscience of polygraphy?"

10 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. Pseudoscience debunked? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's like going to jail for teaching people where to hit their head to pass a phrenology test...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Pseudoscience debunked? by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 5, Funny

      It is embarrassing that over two millennia after the birth of Western civilisation ,we have degenerated to a point where we still believe that simple indicators can determine whether someone will steal, lie, or be just wonderful.

      Yep, the Middle Ages were pretty grim. Nowadays, roughly three millenia after the birth of Western civilization, we're slightly less retarded. But only slightly.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    2. Re:Pseudoscience debunked? by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Funny

      having 'flunked' a lie detector test many years ago for a stupid shit job at radio shack, where i was 100% truthful

      You're missing the point. Sales people are supposed to lie constantly. That's the real reason you were fired - not being able to come up with convincing lies in real time.

      --
      No sig today...
  2. gee i wonder. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    i wonder if they will polygraph him?

  3. Lies! by Mashdar · · Score: 3, Funny

    All lies!

  4. Re:The 1st Amendment's purpose by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Funny

    Supposedly, some purported dictionaries notionally claim that it apparently is.

  5. Re:Witchcraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next time they will charge a swimming instructor for teaching women how to beat the "witch" test.

  6. Re: employers use polygraph tests? by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Number 2 is also fear. Polygraphs aren't a lie detector, they are a psychological operation against the person taking the test, if you know the test is bullshit it's magic fails to work as good."

    It' the Homeopathy of the Homeland Security.

  7. There's a more reliable system than lie-detectors! by TrentTheThief · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lie detectors have the inherent problem in that they can be duped by one who has been schooled to do so. But there is one science that is 100% accurate and relies solely on something that the subject cannot hide: Their skull! Using the science of Phrenology, a trained scientist, a scientist, mind you, not simply some quack wearing a tie, can measure the subject's skull in detail and provide a 100% accurate assessment of the subject's reliability, honesty, intelligence, and propensity to commit crimes or to engage in perverse behaviours, as well as many more important traits that one must consider when entrusting an employee or government official charged with protecting our families and making our nation safe!

    Be safe! Rely on Phrenology!

  8. The feds are following the NSA model by David+Gerard · · Score: 3, Funny

    One who can read, one who can count, one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.

    With people like this in power, the US's scientific and engineering dominance will remain unstoppable!

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    http://rocknerd.co.uk