Colorado’s pricey polygraph testing of sex offenders under fire as critics target accuracy, expense
Colorado has spent more than $5 million to administer polygraphs on convicted sex offenders over the last seven years despite concerns that the tests are so unreliable they can’t be used as evidence during civil or criminal trials.
Polygraphs help officials decide which prisoners convicted of sex offenses are suited for release from prison 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.
“The polygraph really gives useful information,” said Lenny Woodson, administrator for the Colorado Department of Corrections’ Sex Offender Treatment and Monitoring Program. “And we’ve made it clear in our standards that it isn’t to be used in isolation. We’re using as many avenues as possible to make treatment decisions.”
But a bipartisan cross-section of legislators and a retired judge have joined with offenders and their families to question the validity of the tests. They contend too much weight is placed on what they argue is little more than junk science. Flawed polygraphs can complicate efforts for low-risk sex offenders to get paroled and lead to new restrictions for parolees or probationers, critics say. Failure to take the tests can lead to sanctions, including eventual revocation to prison.
Read the full story at The Denver Post.
A computerized polygraph machine being used in a simulated situation in this 2007 file photo. In Colorado, experts are questioning the accuracy and cost of polygraph tests administered to sex offenders in the state. (Dima Korotayev, Epsilon/Getty Images)
A computerized polygraph machine being used in a simulated situation in this 2007 file photo. In Colorado, experts are questioning the accuracy and cost of polygraph tests administered to sex offenders in the state. (Dima Korotayev, Epsilon/Getty Images)