Supreme Court Bars Use of Polygraph Test as Defense

Concluding that lie detector tests cannot always be trusted to tell the truth, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that no one has a right to use one to defend himself in court.

The 8-1 decision upholds a rule that bars the use of polygraphs in military courts-martial. By implication, it also upholds the rule in California and most other state courts that exclude the use of polygraphs.

“There is simply no consensus that polygraph evidence is reliable,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas. “To this day, the scientific community remains extremely polarized about the reliability of polygraph evidence.”

The ruling came in the case of Edward G. Scheffer, an airman who had been stationed in 1992 at March Air Force Base near Riverside. He had been accused of writing bad checks and ingesting illegal drugs. He denied the drug charge and a polygraph analyst found “no deception” in his answers.

Scheffer was prevented from introducing that result in his court-martial under a military rule of evidence and was convicted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces concluded that he was denied his right to present a defense.

Overturning that result in the case (U.S. vs. Scheffer, 96-1133), the justices said that the military’s policy was reasonable and violated no constitutional right.

Justice John Paul Stevens dissented.