9-29-2014 New Jersey:
TRENTON — Convicted sex offenders on the streets of New Jersey are asking Mercer County’s top judge to block parole officers from giving them polygraph tests to make sure they’re staying out of trouble.
A convicted child molester, identified only as J.B. in court papers, is contending that because lie detector tests aren’t reliable enough for use at a trial, they can’t be used to lock up a parolee for a new violation.
J.B. was part of a wider class-action lawsuit by Jersey sex offenders that argued that restrictions on them using social media and submitting to lie testing were violations of their constitutional rights.
In a lengthy opinion written by Superior Court Judge Jack Sabatino, virtually all the molester constitutional arguments were shot down. The appeals panel ruled, in short, that public safety outweighed the molesters’ rights.
“Nevertheless,’’ Sabatino wrote, “appellants have at least preliminarily raised genuine and material issues about the actual utility of polygraphs (for lifetime parolees) particularly in light of the long-standing case law underscoring the unreliable and controversial nature of this testing device
“For these many reasons, an evidentiary hearing is vital to explore the existence and strength of what the State asserts are the therapeutic, rehabilitative, and risk management benefits of polygraph examinations as administered to released sex offenders.
“Such a hearing ideally should encompass expert testimony, cross-examination, and neutral judicial inquiry. Appropriate findings of fact (and, on the points where the experts may disagree, findings of credibility) must also be generated. That amplified record, along with detailed factual findings, will enable this reviewing court’s more informed ultimate resolution of the competing constitutional interests at stake.’’
The job of doing all that fell to Mercer Assignment Judge Mary Jacobson, who held a hearing on the issue Monday, and is expected to hear more legal arguments before making a call.
In the appeals ruling handed down a year ago, Mercer’s go-to judge was told to have her review of the issue completed by April 30.
But that was before Jacobson also ended up refereeing the complex Bridgegate case involving Gov. Chris Christie, as well as the fiasco of succession that following the conviction of ex-mayor Tony Mack on federal corruption charges. ..Source.. by Paul Mickle
September 29, 2014
Sex offenders offended by lie tests
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When I was thrown out of treatment for lying. I requested a polygraph test so I could "prove" I was telling the truth. My request was denied despite the fact that the prison I was in had polygraph operators on the staff. In another prison Iowa held me in I was cleared when a shank was found in the cell I shared with another inmate. The other man claimed it was mine. I said it was not mine. We were both offered polygraphs. He refused. I accepted and was cleared.
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