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

Posted by Soulskill on from the results-unreliable-except-when-we-rely-on-them dept.

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?"

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

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.