Opinion ID: 200831
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inherent unreliability

Text: 30 York next asserts that the polygraph requirement is unreasonable, and thus invalid, because polygraph tests are inherently unreliable and cannot measure whether he is in fact complying with his treatment program. York points to the Supreme Court's acknowledgment that there is simply no consensus that polygraph evidence is reliable. United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 309, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 (1998). In response, the United States does not deny that polygraph technology is of doubtful reliability, but it asserts that the polygraph is nevertheless a useful tool for policing defendants' compliance with conditions of supervised release. Regardless of the device's actual ability to detect lies, the government suggests, the polygraph provides an incentive for York to pursue his treatment program honestly because he may believe that if he lies about his progress, the polygraph will expose him. At least one court of appeals has endorsed this view. See United States v. Taylor, 338 F.3d 1280, 1284 n. 2 (11th Cir.2003) (polygraph testing is useful in promoting the treatment of sex offenders because probationers fear that any false denials of violations will be detected); see also United States v. Lee, 315 F.3d 206, 217 (3d Cir.2003) (polygraph testing can be beneficial in enhancing the supervision and treatment of a sex offender). 31 The record in this case provides no factual foundation on which to evaluate these arguments. The court imposed the polygraph condition sua sponte; neither side submitted evidence on the usefulness or reliability of polygraph exams. This leaves a difficult empirical problem that appellate courts are not well suited to resolve. Perhaps polygraph technology has become more reliable in the five years since the Supreme Court's decision in Scheffer. Or perhaps it will be more reliable when York actually begins his supervised release in 2006. Or perhaps the whole theory of polygraph examinations is irredeemably flawed. Cf. Scheffer, 523 U.S. at 310, 118 S.Ct. 1261 (citing studies challenging the scientific basis for polygraph tests). Those questions are unanswerable on this record. 32 Similarly, we cannot accept on faith that polygraphs are effective at deterring lies, irrespective of their accuracy. The deterrent effect of polygraph testing, after all, is related to the reliability question: York will only be deterred from lying if he believes that a polygraph will likely expose his lies. Perhaps polygraphs, while imperfect, are reliable enough to achieve this deterrent effect. Perhaps they will be so reliable in 2006. The record provides no basis on which to make such a determination. 33 For these reasons, we decline to issue a blanket decision on the propriety of polygraph testing as a tool of supervised release. To the extent York fears that a false positive on a polygraph exam will automatically result in the revocation of his supervised release, the district court has anticipated and addressed his concerns. According to the court's order, [n]o violation proceedings will arise based solely on [the] defendant's failure to `pass' the polygraph. Given this prophylaxis, the use of a polygraph to promote York's rehabilitation is not per se unreasonable. If, after his supervised release begins, York believes that he has been prejudiced by the unreliability of a polygraph test (or by the burdensomeness of the polygraph regime as administered by the Probation Office), he is free to marshal supporting scientific evidence and petition the district court to modify the conditions of his supervised release. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(2). Until that time, any specific claim of prejudice is premature.