Polygraphs are entering the mainstream. Law enforcement is now being joined by insurance companies, employers and businesses in the use of the dubious device.

Add to the traditional polygraph, newer devices such as those that purport to "analyze a person's voice, blush, pupil size and even brain waves for signs of deception," and you get the picture.

But no studies have ever proven that lie detectors work. They are about as reliable as a coin toss. The vast majority of courts don't allow them as evidence for good reason--they have never been shown to be scientifically reliable.

And then there's the moral issue: "The recent proliferation of lie detectors has reignited a decades-old debate over the ethics and politics of when and how they should be used and whether such important questions as guilt or innocence should be left to machines."

And finally, what a lot of people overlook, is that the true value of using a polygraph to law enforcement is not in the machine's ability to determine if the suspect is lying, but in the pre-test interview phase of the process in which the investigator tries to elicit a confession from the suspect. Such as, by telling the suspect that the machine will be able to detect any lies, so they are better off fessing up now. Such as by manipulating the suspect's memory of events and manufacturing other memories such that the suspect begins to doubt his or her own memory and begins to believe the interrogator's version is correct--leading to a failed polygraph.

We could go on and on, but you get the point. It's bad enough law enforcement relies so heavily on these ouija boards. For it to spread to the public at large where people's livelihoods and careers are in the balance, is dangerous.

Here is a free, digital, downloadable, printable book The Lie Behind the Lie Detetor from Anti-Polygraph.Org. which has lots of links and additional information.

The CrimeLynx Forensic Page has carried a link to Anti-Polygraph.Org for years. It is informational and continually updated. We just checked and it currently has information on Dr. Steven Hatfill's polygraph and the recent refusal of Congressional members to submit to the test.