CO: Pricey polygraph testing of sex offenders under fire as critics target accuracy, expense

Admin

Colorado has spent more than $5 million to administer polygraph tests on convicted sex offenders over the last seven years, despite concerns that the results are so unreliable that they can’t be used at trial.

Polygraphs, often called lie-detector tests, are used to determine which prisoners convicted of sex offenses are suited for release by probing their sexual history, attitudes about their crimes and whether they are committing new offenses. They also guide how offenders on parole or probation are supervised.

But a bipartisan group of legislators has joined offenders in questioning the validity of the tests, saying too much weight is placed on what they call junk science, The Denver Post reported https://goo.gl/SDoHPg . They also say a profitable cottage industry has grown up around polygraphing sex offenders in the state. Full Article

Related posts

Subscribe
Notify of

We welcome a lively discussion with all view points - keeping in mind...

 

  1. Your submission will be reviewed by one of our volunteer moderators. Moderating decisions may be subjective.
  2. Please keep the tone of your comment civil and courteous. This is a public forum.
  3. Swear words should be starred out such as f*k and s*t and a**
  4. Please avoid the use of derogatory labels.  Use person-first language.
  5. Please stay on topic - both in terms of the organization in general and this post in particular.
  6. Please refrain from general political statements in (dis)favor of one of the major parties or their representatives.
  7. Please take personal conversations off this forum.
  8. We will not publish any comments advocating for violent or any illegal action.
  9. We cannot connect participants privately - feel free to leave your contact info here. You may want to create a new / free, readily available email address that are not personally identifiable.
  10. Please refrain from copying and pasting repetitive and lengthy amounts of text.
  11. Please do not post in all Caps.
  12. If you wish to link to a serious and relevant media article, legitimate advocacy group or other pertinent web site / document, please provide the full link. No abbreviated / obfuscated links. Posts that include a URL may take considerably longer to be approved.
  13. We suggest to compose lengthy comments in a desktop text editor and copy and paste them into the comment form
  14. We will not publish any posts containing any names not mentioned in the original article.
  15. Please choose a short user name that does not contain links to other web sites or identify real people.  Do not use your real name.
  16. Please do not solicit funds
  17. No discussions about weapons
  18. If you use any abbreviation such as Failure To Register (FTR), Person Forced to Register (PFR) or any others, the first time you use it in a thread, please expand it for new people to better understand.
  19. All commenters are required to provide a real email address where we can contact them.  It will not be displayed on the site.
  20. Please send any input regarding moderation or other website issues via email to moderator [at] all4consolaws [dot] org
  21. We no longer post articles about arrests or accusations, only selected convictions. If your comment contains a link to an arrest or accusation article we will not approve your comment.
  22. If addressing another commenter, please address them by exactly their full display name, do not modify their name. 
ACSOL, including but not limited to its board members and agents, does not provide legal advice on this website.  In addition, ACSOL warns that those who provide comments on this website may or may not be legal professionals on whose advice one can reasonably rely.  
 

7 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

“They also say a profitable cottage industry has grown up around polygraphing sex offenders in the state.
“‘To me, there is no question that it borders on a scam,’ said Senate President pro-tem Jerry Sonnenberg, a Republican from Sterling. ‘We incentivize the people who give the polygraph tests to have inconclusive results so an offender has to go back and pay for another one on a more regular basis.'”

No…I’m sure that’s not happening at all.

–AJ

0
Reply

I am not surprised that the decision in U.S. v. Scheffer does not apply here.

So, in states where the courts have allowed polygraph tests for “sex offenders,” it would be safe to assume the positive results of a test for a defendant in any criminal court case can be used to free him from prosecution? If not, why are they allowed in this case? They are either inherently unreliable, or they are accurate.

….

0
Reply
View Replies (3)

Is there a specific organization that the state of Colorado uses to conduct these polygraph tests. If so can you please share the name or names of these organizations or companies..

0
Reply

The polygraph / lie detector is junk science. The polygraph’s premise assumes that spikes in breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, or sweat indicate deception. Logically, if the polygraph’s premise were true, then it would also mean you were lying anytime you’ve had spikes in breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, or sweat. How absurd!

If you have yet to watch, here is a YouTube clip from truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyDMoGjKvNk

It’s almost as if everything related to “sex offender” registration — including registration itself — is a scam.

0
Reply