softwareNerd Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Would it be illegal to help someone pass a polygraph test? There's a recent case where the government won a case against someone who was helping people do so. Government lawyers concede that it is perfectly legal to tell someone how to beat a polygraph test, in general terms. However, what if the customer tells you he has committed some crime? According to the prosecution, the customers included child-molesters who told the accused about their crime. (The defence responded that only one such confessed crime was unknown to police, and the trainer reported that one crime to the authorities.) In a sting, someone posing as a drug-lord's brother was trained how to lie (to join the border-patrol), but the defence responded that the trainer never thought the guy was going to pass anyway. (In other words, if there was fraud, it was in pretending that the polygraph could be reliably beaten.) He is also accused of training government intelligence employees to beat polygraphs that were part of their security-clearance. Interesting case, because of the legal questions around what one can teach another: for instance, it is legal to publish bomb schema, but it is probably illegal to help a bomber plan an actual criminal bombing, while knowing his plans. The other interesting question is: how reliable is the polygraph? Was this guy basically a charlatan, exaggerating his training skills? According to the prosecution, one client who had passed only 1 of 8 tests, ended up passing 3 tests subsequent to his training. HT: Slashdot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Criminalizing this is no different from criminalizing defense lawyers who know their clients are guilty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison Danneskjold Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Polygraph tests aren't all that accurate, anyway; they're based on certain assumptions about human nature which we know aren't universally true. The trainer is simply exploiting a preexisting flaw in the system. It's the methodology which Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison Danneskjold Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Polygraph tests aren't all that accurate, anyway; they're based on certain assumptions about human nature which we know aren't universally true. The trainer is simply exploiting a preexisting flaw in the system. It's the flawed methodology which needs adjustment; not the people able to see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrictlyLogical Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Criminalizing this is no different from criminalizing defense lawyers who know their clients are guilty. Perhaps it should only be illegal if the trainer has been told by the criminal that he wants to pass the test in order to commit and continually to commit other crimes. That said... I wonder if according to Objectivist principles forcing someone to submit to such a thing is moral... search warrants are one thing... "mind reading" machines and such ... seems a bit invasive to an individual's rights to their body/mind/personal space... Edited September 1, 2013 by StrictlyLogical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdegges Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 @Strictly: Contrary to what is shown on TV, no one can be forced to take a polygraph test. Of course there are certain jobs that require you to take one during the application process, but the decision is ultimately yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrictlyLogical Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 @Strictly: Contrary to what is shown on TV, no one can be forced to take a polygraph test. Of course there are certain jobs that require you to take one during the application process, but the decision is ultimately yours. Well then... this at least is not a blemish on a mixed economic mob-rule altruistic wealth distributing system we have today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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