Saturday, January 3, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.npr.org/2014/12/29/373835114/same-sex-couples-may-have-more-egalitarian-relationships

Same-Sex Couples May Have More Egalitarian Relationships
Lourdes Garcia-Navarro 
DECEMBER 29, 2014

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro talks to researcher Robert-Jay Green about how people behave in same-sex marriage compared with heterosexual marriage. Green has studied LGBT relationships going back to 1975.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

A little more than 10 years ago gay marriage was not an option for same-sex couples anywhere in the U.S. Now it's legal in the majority of the country, and so we wondered what research can tell us about these couples and their marriages. Robert-Jay Green is the founder of the Rockway Institute for Research in LGBT Psychology, and he's been studying same-sex couples since 1975. Welcome to the program.

ROBERT-JAY GREEN: Thank you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So first of all, tell us who did you track in your study, and what you find out?

GREEN: Well, this was a study of 976 couples who, in 2008, were registered domestic partners in California. We followed them over a five-year period to look at which ones of them got married, which ones of them stayed together, unmarried, and which ones of them broke up.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And what did you find out? I mean, does marriage matter?

GREEN: Well, what we found out was that for those who married, they showed much better mental health at the follow-up time period than those who stayed together unmarried. And we feel this is an answer to the question of do same-sex couples need marriage rights, in addition to access to civil unions and domestic registered partnerships? And the answer is yes, it improves their mental health.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So they're happier, essentially?

GREEN: Yes, happier, less depression, better mental health.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: In that sense, are same-sex marriages different than heterosexual marriages? Do you have the same sorts of power dynamics, for example?

GREEN: Well, what we found consistently in our research is that same-sex couples tend to be much more egalitarian in their relationships. They share decision-making more equally, finances more equally, housework more equally, childcare more equally. Basically every dimension we looked at, same-sex couples are dramatically more equal in the way they function together as a couple compared to heterosexual couples.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So that immediately brings a question to my mind. Do they fight less? I think of my marriage and the things that we often squabble about are childcare, our money, housework. So do they fight less?

GREEN: Not necessarily. There tends to be less anger and aggression in their conflict situations. So when they're discussing a conflictual area, it's been found that same-sex couples use a lot more humor, are much more able to de-escalate the conflict discussion so that they don't get out of hand, whereas heterosexual couples tend to get more into a power struggle.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So why are they better at resolving conflicts, do you think?

GREEN: I mean, I think it has to do with the basic equality in a relationship. I mean, when you're both the same gender, you can't divvy up roles according to gender. On the other hand, because you're equals, you can't get away with pulling power techniques on each other because it will only backfire on you when you're dealing with an equal.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: With gay marriage becoming an option for so many same-sex couples across the country, we're just seeing the sea change. How has that changed the way young gays and lesbians think about their lives?

GREEN: I mean, we don't know entirely yet how it's going to affect them. But we found that 61 percent of young gay males said they were very or extremely likely to marry in the future. And for females, it was 78 percent said they were very or extremely likely to get married in the future. That means the vast majority of young lesbian and gay people are intending to get married in the future, and the same thing is true for parenting. So, I mean, what we're expecting to see is lesbian and gay people are going to be married at about the same rights as heterosexual people and have children at the same rights as heterosexual people. We'll see.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's Robert-Jay Green, founder of the Rockway Institute for Research in LGBT Psychology. Thank you so much.

GREEN: OK, thank you.




“Well, what we found consistently in our research is that same-sex couples tend to be much more egalitarian in their relationships. They share decision-making more equally, finances more equally, housework more equally, childcare more equally. Basically every dimension we looked at, same-sex couples are dramatically more equal in the way they function together as a couple compared to heterosexual couples.... Not necessarily. There tends to be less anger and aggression in their conflict situations. So when they're discussing a conflictual area, it's been found that same-sex couples use a lot more humor, are much more able to de-escalate the conflict discussion so that they don't get out of hand, whereas heterosexual couples tend to get more into a power struggle.... I mean, I think it has to do with the basic equality in a relationship. I mean, when you're both the same gender, you can't divvy up roles according to gender. On the other hand, because you're equals, you can't get away with pulling power techniques on each other because it will only backfire on you when you're dealing with an equal.”

I was married twice. While my level of sexual involvement and satisfaction has something to do with the man being the leader, I am absolutely unable to be with an abusive man for long, or to “love” him fully. That only happened to me once, with just one violent incident. That particular man, though we had conflicts constantly, was a very good lover, with the patience to arouse me fully before coitus. I am grateful to him for that. Having sexual satisfaction has always been important to me. As a result, I remember him with some fondness.

It is true of me that I am much too proud and perhaps too competitive to continue in a human relationship of any kind that is “toxic” in that particular way. With family or friends I strongly maintain my equality. If that creates too much anger on either side I limit the amount of association that I have with the person. There are people I like a great deal less than others, and trying to bully me is one of the main ways to alienate me. Another is to lie to me. I'm sure if anyone tried to rip me off financially I would react in the same way.

See the following article on male competition surrounding sexual interactions. The scientist concludes “Professor Shamay-Tsoory concluded: ‘Our results coincide with the theory that claims the social-behavioural differences between men and women are caused by a combination of cultural as well as biological factors that are mainly hormonal.’” Typically this male competitiveness would be between males over who gets to “possess” the woman, and that can be extreme, too. My ex-husband was exceedingly jealous, and distrustful of me, constantly suspecting me of flirting with someone. He had no logical reason to think that. It was part of his deep-seated psychology.

It is my opinion that the sexually abusive male is always emotionally disturbed and insecure, having a great need for control of women and perhaps a touch of the sociopathic personality. He may hate women. I also think that abusing women has to do with their macho side as related to their upbringing and the local cultural viewpoints, such as the severe problem with abuse among too many Middle Eastern and Indian men. I think they have grown up with angry, abusive men as companions and role models, seeing wife abuse going on all around them, and they have formed their personality around that image. They may also secretly fear a woman who is not submissive.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2557013/How-love-hormone-doesnt-live-Oxytocin-make-women-friendly-men-competitive.html

How the 'love hormone' doesn't always live up to its name: Oxytocin is found to make women friendly but men more competitive
By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD
11 February 2014

The reason why men are competitive and women are more social has been explained - and it’s all down to the hormone oxytocin.

Although known as the love hormone, it affects the sexes differently and not always in a loving way.

Researchers have discovered that in men it improves the ability to identify competitive relationships, whereas in women it enables the ability to identify friendship.

Women tend to be more communal and familial in their behaviour, whereas men are more inclined to be competitive and striving to improve their social status,’ said Professor Simone Shamay-Tsoory, lead researcher at the University of Haifa in Israel.
The hormone oxytocin is released in our bodies in various social situations and our bodies create it at high concentrations during positive social interactions such as falling in love, experiencing an orgasm or giving birth and breastfeeding.

But in previous research Professor Shamay-Tsoory discovered that the hormone is also released in our body during negative social interactions such as jealousy or gloating.

The current research, published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37.

Half of the participants received a dose of oxytocin while the other half received a placebo.

After a week, the groups switched with participants undergoing the same procedure with the other substance.

Following treatment, video clips showing various social interactions were screened. 

Participants were asked to analyse the relationships by answering questions that focused on identifying friendship, intimacy and competition.

The participants were expected to base their answers, among other things, on gestures, body language and facial expressions.

The results showed that oxytocin improved the ability to better interpret social interactions in general.

When the researchers examined the differences between the sexes they discovered that following treatment with oxytocin, men’s ability to correctly interpret competitive relationships improved, whereas in women it was the ability to correctly identify friendship that got better.

Professor Shamay-Tsoory concluded: ‘Our results coincide with the theory that claims the social-behavioural differences between men and women are caused by a combination of cultural as well as biological factors that are mainly hormonal.’





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/parents-of-child-with-special-needs-humiliated-on-united-airlines-flight/

Parents of child with special needs humiliated on United Airlines flight
CBS NEWS
January 2, 2015

A New Jersey mother of four accused United Airlines of humiliating her and her family on a recent flight from the Dominican Republic to Newark, New Jersey. Elit Kirschenbaum said a flight attendant refused to allow her 3-year-old daughter, who has special needs, to sit on her lap. Elit and her husband gave CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano an inside look at the ordeal.

"My little baby is sitting there on my lap, not hurting a fly, she can't walk by herself, she can't sit by herself and here is this woman who just is standing behind the law without putting humanity into the situation," Kirschenbaum said. "It was really heartbreaking."

Elit Kirschenbaum sat her 3-year-old daughter Ivy on her lap for their United Airlines flight home as she's done many times before. Ivy suffered a stroke in the womb and even though a seat had been purchased for her, she couldn't sit upright in that seat on her own.

"The flight attendants were passing back and forth, they passed drinks, smiled, said hello to Ivy and my son," Elit said. "Everything seemed fine until a fourth agent approached us and told me to place Ivy in her own seat."

The flight attendant cited an FAA regulation that requires everyone over the age of 24 months to sit in his or her own seat.

"She told us that we had to make her sit. And I said to her, 'I would give my left arm to make her sit, of course I want to have her sit but she just can't do it,'" Elit said.

The pilot ended up intervening, and after an hour delay the flight took off. Ivy was strapped in, laying across the laps of her father, Jeff, and another relative for takeoff and landing.

"It took an hour of arguing, embarrassment, screaming, crying to come up with such a simple plan which didn't even seem any different than having her sit on her lap," Jeff said.

The story sparked outrage on both sides after Elit shared her ordeal online with the hashtag #UnitedWithIvy.

In a statement, United Airlines said "Flight attendants are required by law to adhere to the safety regulations. As we did in this case, we will always try to work with customers on seating arrangements in the event of any special needs."

In Ivy's case, FAA guidelines recommend an FAA approved child safety seat, something Elit was not aware of until her flight.

"We never knew the rule," Elit said. "We've put her on our laps for the past three-plus years."

Minutes before our interview, a United Airlines representative called Elit. She said the woman on the phone was incredibly compassionate and apologetic.

"Part of what we hope that comes out of this is United does a better job of explaining to people what the rules are if you have a special needs child," Jeff said.

"I try to teach my children that when they make a mistake they need to own it, they need to apologize for it, they need to learn from it and they need to move on," Elit added. "And that is all I wanted from United as well."

The Kirschenbaums said they're neither looking for a refund nor revenge. In fact, next month their whole family is flying on United Airlines to Mexico. This time, they said they'll be fully prepared with an FAA approved car seat for Ivy.




“The pilot ended up intervening, and after an hour delay the flight took off. Ivy was strapped in, laying across the laps of her father, Jeff, and another relative for takeoff and landing. "It took an hour of arguing, embarrassment, screaming, crying to come up with such a simple plan which didn't even seem any different than having her sit on her lap," Jeff said.... In Ivy's case, FAA guidelines recommend an FAA approved child safety seat, something Elit was not aware of until her flight. "We never knew the rule," Elit said. "We've put her on our laps for the past three-plus years." Minutes before our interview, a United Airlines representative called Elit. She said the woman on the phone was incredibly compassionate and apologetic. "Part of what we hope that comes out of this is United does a better job of explaining to people what the rules are if you have a special needs child," Jeff said.”

A number of these conflicts between passengers and the airline have popped up. Sometimes it's because the child cries incessantly. In those cases I think the parent should see a doctor and get an approved prescription sedative to be used on the trip. There is a special danger situation frequently when order on the plane is disrupted. Alec Baldwin showed his hostile side over his cell phone and was kicked off the plane. He's a cute guy, but has been in trouble a couple of other times as well, so he must be a pill to live with. I think the airline workers when these conflicts occur should not “scream” at any passenger, however. It's pointless, painful and doesn't solve the problem. At least in this case the pilot did come up with a compromise solution, and now the parents will be prepared next time.





SLAVERY IN SOUTH KOREA? REALLY?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-living-hell-for-slaves-on-remote-south-korean-island-salt-farms/

​"A living hell" for slaves on remote South Korean island salt farms
AP January 2, 2015

Photograph – In this Jan. 24, 2014 image taken from a video released by Guro Police, Kim Seong-baek, left, meets with his mother, not identified, after he was rescued from a salt farm, at Guro Police Station in Seoul, South Korea.
AP PHOTO/GURO POLICE

SINUI ISLAND, South Korea -- He ran the first chance he got.

The summer sun beat down on the shallow, sea-fed fields where Kim Seong-baek was forced to work without pay, day after 18-hour day mining the big salt crystals that blossomed in the mud around him. Half-blind and in rags, Kim grabbed another slave, and the two men -- both disabled -- headed for the coast.

Far from Seoul, the glittering steel-and-glass capital of one of Asia's richest countries, they were now hunted men on this tiny, remote island where the enslavement of disabled salt farm workers is an open secret.

"It was a living hell," Kim said. "I thought my life was over."

Lost, they wandered past asphalt-black salt fields sparkling with a patina of thin white crust. They could feel the islanders they passed watching them. Everyone knew who belonged and who didn't.

Near a grocery, the store owner's son came out and asked what they were doing. Kim broke down, begged for help, said he'd been held against his will. The man offered to take them to the police to file a report. Instead, he called their boss, who beat Kim with a rake -- and it was back to the salt fields.

"I couldn't fight back," Kim said, in a recent series of interviews with The Associated Press whose details are corroborated by court records and by lawyers, police and government officials. "The islanders are too organized, too connected."


Slavery thrives on this chain of rural islands off South Korea's rugged southwest coast, nurtured by a long history of exploitation and the demands of trying to squeeze a living from the sea.

Five times during the last decade, revelations of slavery involving the disabled have emerged, each time generating national shame and outrage. Kim's case prompted a nationwide government probe over the course of several months last year. Officials searched more than 38,000 salt, fish and agricultural farms and disabled facilities and found more than 100 workers who had received no -- or only scant -- pay, and more than 100 who had been reported missing by their families.

Yet little has changed on the islands, according to a months-long investigation by the AP based on court and police documents and dozens of interviews with freed slaves, salt farmers, villagers and officials.

Although 50 island farm owners and regional job brokers were indicted, no local police or officials have faced punishment -- and national police say none will, despite multiple interviews showing some knew about the slaves and even stopped escape attempts.

Slavery has been so pervasive that regional judges have shown leniency toward several perpetrators. In suspending the prison sentences of two farmers, a court said that "such criminal activities were tolerated as common practice by a large number of salt farms nearby."

The AP findings shine a spotlight on the underbelly of an Asian success story. After decades of war, poverty and dictatorship, South Koreans now enjoy a vibrant democracy and media, and an entertainment industry that's the envy of the region. But amid the country's growing wealth and power, the disabled often don't fit in.

Soon after the national government's investigation, activists and police found another 63 unpaid or underpaid workers on the islands, three-quarters of whom were mentally disabled.

Yet some refused to leave the salt farms because they had nowhere else to go. Several freed disabled slaves told the AP they will return because they believe that even the salt farms are better than life on the streets or in crowded shelters. In some cases, relatives refused to take the disabled back or sent salt farmers letters confirming that they didn't need to pay the workers.

Kim's former boss, Hong Jeong-gi, didn't respond to multiple requests for comment through his lawyer, but argued in court that he didn't confine the two men. Hong is set to appear next week in court to appeal a three-an-a-half year prison sentence.

Other villagers, including paid salt workers, say farmers do the best they can despite little help from the government, and add that only a few bad owners abuse workers. Farmers describe themselves as providing oases for the disabled and homeless.

"These are people who are neglected and mistreated, people who have nowhere to go," Hong Chi-guk, a 64-year-old salt farmer in Sinui, told the AP. "What alternative does our society have for them?"

On the night of July 4, 2012, a stranger approached Kim in a Seoul train station where he was trying to sleep; Kim had been homeless since fleeing creditors a decade earlier. The man offered him lodging for the night and promised him food, cigarettes and a "good job" in the morning.

Hours later, Kim stood in the muck of a salt farm owned by Hong, who had paid an illegal job agent the equivalent of about $700 for his new worker, according to court records.

Kim, visually disabled and described in court documents as having the social awareness of a 12-year-old, had no money, no cellphone and only the vaguest idea of where he was.

The afternoon of his first full day on the farm, Hong erupted as Kim struggled with the backbreaking work, according to the prosecutors' indictment that a judge based Hong's sentence on. The owner grabbed him from behind and flipped him onto the ground, screaming, "You moron. If I knew you'd be so bad at this, I wouldn't have brought you here."

In the next weeks, Hong punched him in the face for not cleaning floors properly. He beat him on the buttocks with a wooden plank for raking the salt in the wrong way.

"Each time I tried to ask him something, his punch came first," Kim told the AP. "He told me to use my mouth only for eating and smoking. He said I shouldn't question things and should be thankful because he fed me and gave me lodging and work."

It was just as bad for the other slave, Chae Min-sik, a tiny man whose disabilities are so severe that he struggles even with basic words.

Only a week after his first capture, Kim began to plan another escape.

"Angel Islands," the regional tourist board calls the 1,004 islands clustered in the sun-sparkling waters off South Korea's southwestern tip, because the Korean word for "1,004" sounds like the word for "angel."

Local media call them "Slave Islands."

Parts of the region have been shut out from the country's recent meteoric development. On many of the 72 inhabited islands, salt propels the economic engine, thanks to clean water, wide-open farmland and strong sunlight.

Sinan County has more than 850 salt farms that produce two-thirds of South Korea's sea salt. To make money, however, farmers need labor, lots of it and cheap. Around half of Sinui Island's 2,200 people work in salt farming, according to a county website and officials.

Even with pay, the work is hard.

Large farms in Europe can harvest salt once or twice a year with machines. But smaller Korean farms rely on daily manpower to wring salt from seawater.

Workers manage a complex network of waterways, hoses and storage areas. When the salt forms, they drain the fields, rake the salt into mounds, clean it and bag it. The process typically takes 25 days.

Sinan salt, which costs about three times more than refined salt, is coveted in South Korea, found in fancy department stores and given as wedding gifts.

"Everyone makes money from the farms," said Choi Young-shim, the owner of a fish restaurant in Mokpo, the southern port city that's the gateway to the salt islands.
Not everyone.

The second time they ran, Kim and Chae again tried to find their way to the port. But they had to pass the grocery store to get there, and again the store owner's son, identified by officials only as Yoon, rounded them up and called Hong.

After another beating, it was back to work. The few hours they weren't in the fields, they slept in a concrete storage building filled with piles of junk and large orange sacks of rice.

Kim despaired of ever escaping. Hong was an influential man, a former village head. He was linked by regular social contact and family ties with other salt farmers and villagers, some of whom volunteered to patrol the island for escaped workers.

Although Kim lived only three kilometers from a police station, he never thought about asking for help. He believed he'd be ignored or, worse, returned.

Kim ran again at the end of the month. Hong quickly called members of the volunteer patrol, and, again, Yoon spotted the slaves as they tried to reach the port and brought them to Hong.
Furious, the owner issued an ultimatum: Run again, and you'll get a knife in the stomach.

Hong beat Kim so badly he broke Kim's glasses, leaving him nearly blind. He worked Kim so hard the slave was too tired to think about escape, even if he hadn't been terrified to try.

"It just drove me deeper into despair," Kim said. "I never had a chance."

The exact number of people enslaved on the islands is difficult to determine for the same reasons that slavery lingers: the transient nature of the work, the remoteness of the farms and the closeness -- and often hostility -- of the island communities.

"It's like a game of hide-and-seek," said Park Su-in, an activist. "What we are finding is just the tip of the iceberg. It's hard to comprehend how bad it is for the disabled people who are forced to work out on these isolated islands."

Activists believe many slaves have yet to be found, as some salt farm owners sent victims away or hid them from investigators. They say others coached disabled workers about what they should say in interviews.

While island police officers were moved to different posts on the mainland as part of annual personnel changes, authorities found no collusion, according to a Mokpo police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

"If the recent investigation was done properly, then pretty much everyone on the island should've been taken to the police station and charged," said Kim Kang-won, another activist who participated in the recent investigation on Sinui. "The whole village knew about it. The local government office, and the police as well. It is clear negligence. And the problem hasn't been resolved yet."

Provincial police vowed to inspect farms and interview workers regularly. Choi Byung-dai, a police officer on Sinui Island when Kim was freed, expressed regret about Kim's treatment but also noted the difficulty of monitoring so many salt farms and a flood of seasonal workers.

Salt farmers blame illegal job agencies in Mokpo, which see mentally disabled workers as better bets because they're less likely to complain or run away.

"They're treated like dogs and pigs, but people in the community are used to it," said Kim Kyung-lae, a Mokpo cab driver who regularly drives local employment agents and disabled workers to the ferry port to meet with farm owners.

Others familiar with the island confirm that slavery is rampant.

A doctor who worked at the Sinui Island public health center from 2006 to 2007 said most of the workers he treated were abused or exploited.

"The police chief would tell me that I'd eventually come to understand that this was how things on the island worked," said Cho Yong-su. "For decades they'd exploited workers in this way, so they couldn't understand that this was abuse."

An outsider might cringe at what's happening on the island, said Han Bong-cheol, a pastor in Mokpo who lived on Sinui for 19 years until June. "But when you live there, many of these problems feel inevitable."

He sympathized with farmers forced to deal with disabled, incompetent workers whom he described as dirty and lazy. "They spend their leisure time eating snacks, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. They are taken once or twice a year to Mokpo so they can buy sex. It's a painful reality, but it's a pain the island has long shared as a community," Han said.

After a year and a half as a slave, Kim made one last bid for freedom.

He wrote a letter to his mother in Seoul that he never expected to be able to send, calling himself her "foolish" son.

He got a break when Hong's wife let him go alone for a haircut. Walking slowly without his glasses, he ducked into the post office and mailed the letter, which gave directions to the farm.

Kim's mother was stunned. She brought the letter to Seo Je-gong, a police captain for the Seoul Guro district. "A vanished person had suddenly reappeared," Seo, now retired, told AP.

Seo then hatched an extraordinary plan.

Because Kim's letter noted collaboration between local police and salt farm owners, Seo and another Seoul officer ran a clandestine operation without telling local officials.

Carrying fishing rods, they walked around like tourists who had come to fish and buy salt, and surreptitiously took photos of Hong's house and farm. After they watched Hong board a boat, they told Hong's wife they were Seoul police who had come to free Kim.

The officers found the slaves sitting on a mattress in the back room of a storage building with no heat or hot water. Kim wore thin, dirty clothes, slippers and socks with big holes. He looked, Seo said, like a person who had been homeless for a very long time.

Kim was frightened and baffled at first, then relieved. "I am going to live," he said.

When Seo took Kim to a local police station to give an official account, an indignant policeman asked, "Why didn't you leave this to us?"

Villagers, unaware that Kim's escorts were Seoul police, harassed him at the docks, asking where he was going. Some even called Hong.

When Kim met his mother the next day, they both wept. She stroked her son's face. "Everything is all right because you've come back alive," she says in a police video of their reunion.

Chae initially refused to leave Sinui. After Seo later found a 2008 missing person's report for Chae, police returned and rescued him. Chae, who'd spent five years as a slave, now lives in a Seoul shelter.

Hong was convicted of employing a trafficked person, aggravated confinement, habitual violence and violating labor laws. Yoon, the man who captured Kim and Chae three times, was fined $7,500. Two illegal job brokers hired by Hong to procure workers are appealing prison sentences of two years and two-and-a-half years.

Kim, who lives in Seoul and occasionally works construction jobs, still seems amazed that his escape plan worked. He settled with Hong for about $35,000 in unpaid wages, but is furious that Hong is appealing his prison term next week. Kim will face him in court, and has been preparing for the moment.

His body aches, and he gets treatment for lingering pain in his neck, legs and spine.

"Now all I want is peace," Kim said. "I still get nightmares, still wake up in the middle of the night."

His time as a slave has even changed the way he feels about salt. He gets flustered when he talks about it, disgusted when he sees it.

"Just thinking about it makes me grind my teeth."




“Far from Seoul, the glittering steel-and-glass capital of one of Asia's richest countries, they were now hunted men on this tiny, remote island where the enslavement of disabled salt farm workers is an open secret.... Five times during the last decade, revelations of slavery involving the disabled have emerged, each time generating national shame and outrage. Kim's case prompted a nationwide government probe over the course of several months last year. Officials searched more than 38,000 salt, fish and agricultural farms and disabled facilities and found more than 100 workers who had received no -- or only scant -- pay, and more than 100 who had been reported missing by their families.... Although 50 island farm owners and regional job brokers were indicted, no local police or officials have faced punishment -- and national police say none will, despite multiple interviews showing some knew about the slaves and even stopped escape attempts. Slavery has been so pervasive that regional judges have shown leniency toward several perpetrators. In suspending the prison sentences of two farmers, a court said that "such criminal activities were tolerated as common practice by a large number of salt farms nearby."... Other villagers, including paid salt workers, say farmers do the best they can despite little help from the government, and add that only a few bad owners abuse workers. Farmers describe themselves as providing oases for the disabled and homeless.When the salt forms, they drain the fields, rake the salt into mounds, clean it and bag it. The process typically takes 25 days. Sinan salt, which costs about three times more than refined salt, is coveted in South Korea, found in fancy department stores and given as wedding gifts.... Provincial police vowed to inspect farms and interview workers regularly. Choi Byung-dai, a police officer on Sinui Island when Kim was freed, expressed regret about Kim's treatment but also noted the difficulty of monitoring so many salt farms and a flood of seasonal workers.... Hong was convicted of employing a trafficked person, aggravated confinement, habitual violence and violating labor laws. Yoon, the man who captured Kim and Chae three times, was fined $7,500. Two illegal job brokers hired by Hong to procure workers are appealing prison sentences of two years and two-and-a-half years. Kim, who lives in Seoul and occasionally works construction jobs, still seems amazed that his escape plan worked. He settled with Hong for about $35,000 in unpaid wages, but is furious that Hong is appealing his prison term next week. Kim will face him in court, and has been preparing for the moment.”

Human misery is rampant, but hope goes on. Kim, who is supposedly mentally disabled, kept trying to escape until he and his companion Chae succeeded. He now works construction part time and got $35,000 from his overlord Hong in recompense. He must be fairly intelligent, I think. Of course, mentally disabled could men bipolar or some other disorder. Those who were involved in their capture, enslavement are on trial but not expected to be charged very severely. Public officials look the other way and do little to stop the salt trade. “An outsider might cringe at what's happening on the island, said Han Bong-cheol, a pastor in Mokpo who lived on Sinui for 19 years until June. "But when you live there, many of these problems feel inevitable."

I was very sad to read that their families don't even try to help them. The mentally disabled do present a problem as for how to care for them – and control their movements in some cases – which is why so many homeless people live on our streets here in the US. I wonder how these things are handled in other advanced nations. According to this article, South Korea is a very wealthy nation, but it isn't doing anything to help those who can't fend for themselves. What can or should the US do to intervene with the S. Korean government? They are one of our main allies in the area. When something economic is involved in the situation – as with the ivory trade in Africa/China – the law doesn't work very well to solve the problem because people in those nations are getting ever richer on the trade. The hand-gathered salt is sold at a premium to wealthy people in the mainland. “Sinan salt, which costs about three times more than refined salt, is coveted in South Korea, found in fancy department stores and given as wedding gifts.” It's another case of people with privileged status don't care about human suffering. “The love of money is the root of all evil,” I again quote today.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-womans-death-in-police-custody-ruled-homicide/

Cleveland woman's death in police custody ruled homicide
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP
January 2, 2015

CLEVELAND - The manner of death of a woman who died in Cleveland police custody has been ruled a homicide.

A report released Friday by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner says the woman died after she was physically restrained in a prone position. A heart condition and bipolar disorder were also factors, according to the report.

Tanisha Anderson died Nov. 12 after losing consciousness in the custody of officers while having a mental-health episode. Relatives say the 37-year-old was schizophrenic and claim an officer used excessive force.

Her family said at a news conference nearly two weeks ago that they wanted more answers about what happened and that Cleveland officers need better training on dealing with mentally ill people.

A message seeking comment was left with Cleveland police.

According to CBS affiliate WOIO, Anderson's family released a statement following the release of the medical examiner's report saying, "The family demands justice for Tanisha, a thorough criminal investigation and an independent prosecutor that results in accountability by the police officers and the Cleveland Police Department."

Two Cleveland police officers, Scott Aldridge and Bryan Meyers, had been placed on restrictive leave while the matter was being investigated.

Cleveland Safety Director and former police Chief Michael McGrath told the Northeast Ohio Media Group for a story Thursday that the city was in talks to hand investigations of deadly use-of-force cases to an outside agency, including the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot at a city playground by a rookie officer who apparently mistook an airsoft gun for a real firearm.

Tamir Rice's family has sued the city in federal court, saying the two officers acted recklessly when they confronted the boy.

Cleveland police have come under outside scrutiny on other cases recently as well. Last month, the U.S. Justice Department released findings from a nearly two-year investigation of the agency. The department concluded that officers use excessive and unnecessary force far too often.




“A report released Friday by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner says the woman died after she was physically restrained in a prone position. A heart condition and bipolar disorder were also factors, according to the report. Tanisha Anderson died Nov. 12 after losing consciousness in the custody of officers while having a mental-health episode. Relatives say the 37-year-old was schizophrenic and claim an officer used excessive force. Her family said at a news conference nearly two weeks ago that they wanted more answers about what happened and that Cleveland officers need better training on dealing with mentally ill people.... former police Chief Michael McGrath told the Northeast Ohio Media Group for a story Thursday that the city was in talks to hand investigations of deadly use-of-force cases to an outside agency.... Last month, the U.S. Justice Department released findings from a nearly two-year investigation of the agency. The department concluded that officers use excessive and unnecessary force far too often.”

I know when people are experiencing a mental episode they can be violent, and are not good subjects for reasoning in many cases, but – as with Garner when he was placed in a choke hold – this woman was forced to lie on her stomach and was “physically restrained.” Garner, if I remember correctly, was lying on his stomach with his hands in cuffs behind his back while an officer put his weight down on his chest and he couldn't get his breath. Just as when a young baby is placed on her stomach to sleep, that position requires some strength which a three month old doesn't have yet to raise the chest up enough to get a breath.

Police need to stop putting their weight on a prisoner's chest in that way. Most police officers weigh 250 pounds or more. Even if they don't mean to “strangle or choke” the perpetrator it's still dangerous. One more sad case. Retraining on a massive scale needs to occur in our nation's police forces for everything from pointless aggressiveness to carelessness. They need to be made aware that how they do things is important, and is a valid subject of public and government scrutiny. I think there will be improvement in the number of such cases if we persistently pursue the situation across the country. Police department heads will become more involved before a case hits the press and causes a scandal.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-watch-ignored-rikers-island-inmate-dies/

Suicide watch ignored, Rikers Island inmate dies
CBS/AP
January 2, 2015

NEW YORK -- A mentally ill inmate who apparently hanged himself on New Year's Day in a Rikers Island jail cell was supposed to be placed on suicide watch, but it wasn't implemented, two city officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

A jail psychiatrist who saw Fabian Cruz on Wednesday at a clinic ordered that Cruz be transferred to a special observation unit in a different Rikers facility where he'd be placed under constant watch, but Cruz told a guard at the clinic he didn't want to go and he was transferred back to his jail cell, the officials said.

Letting Cruz go back to his cell was a violation of Department of Correction protocol because inmates don't get to decide where they're housed, said one of the officials, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation into what happened.

The guard also was supposed to contact a supervising captain after the suicide watch was ordered but didn't, the official said.

Cruz, 35, was discovered Thursday evening and was pronounced dead by a jail doctor. The correction officer at the clinic has been placed on modified duty.

In October, city officials announced they'd secured a $400,000 federal grant to review suicides and other self-harm in jails to identify systemic breakdowns that cause them and to prevent more. That announcement followed a June report by the AP that found, based on city and state investigative documents, that in nine of the 11 inmate suicides since 2009 established protocols designed to prevent vulnerable inmates form hurting themselves weren't followed.

Autopsy results are pending in Cruz's case, but the officials said his death appeared to be suicide by hanging. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said the cause and manner of his death hadn't been determined.

A Department of Correction spokesman said only that Cruz's death in the Robert N. Davoren Center was being investigated as a possible suicide.

Cruz had pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal sexual act for abusing his girlfriend's teenage daughter starting when she was 14 years old between November 2009 and October 2012, court records show. He was awaiting sentencing Jan. 15 to five years in prison upstate and would have had to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.

A message left with Cruz's attorney wasn't immediately returned.

The head of the powerful city correction officers' union, Norman Seabrook, said the guard had been on the job for three years and had never worked with mentally ill inmates.

"She'll be the scapegoat for management on this, and that's unfair," Seabrook said.

The city's jail system has come under increased scrutiny in the past year since the AP first reported the deaths of two seriously mentally ill inmates at Rikers - one who died of hyperthermia in a sweltering jail cell and another who sexually mutilated himself while locked up alone for seven straight days.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, serving his first term, has vowed reforms. Last month, federal prosecutors investigating guard brutality at Rikers against teenage inmates joined a federal lawsuit alleging widespread violence against inmates by guards throughout Rikers to speed up the pace of those reforms.

Advocates and former health officials have long said inmate suicides are a result of miscommunication and tension between the two agencies responsible for inmates: health officials who evaluate inmate health care and jail guards who are responsible for their control.

Last month, a Rikers Island guard was convicted of a civil rights charge after a jury concluded he ignored the pleas of a dying inmate who had swallowed a toxic soap ball.

Terrence Pendergrass shook his head repeatedly as the verdict was announced Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. Pendergrass was charged in the death of 25-year-old Jason Echevarria, who had bipolar disorder and was being held on a burglary charge, CBS New York reported.




“Letting Cruz go back to his cell was a violation of Department of Correction protocol because inmates don't get to decide where they're housed, said one of the officials, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation into what happened. The guard also was supposed to contact a supervising captain after the suicide watch was ordered but didn't, the official said.... In October, city officials announced they'd secured a $400,000 federal grant to review suicides and other self-harm in jails to identify systemic breakdowns that cause them and to prevent more. That announcement followed a June report by the AP that found, based on city and state investigative documents, that in nine of the 11 inmate suicides since 2009 established protocols designed to prevent vulnerable inmates form hurting themselves weren't followed....The head of the powerful city correction officers' union, Norman Seabrook, said the guard had been on the job for three years and had never worked with mentally ill inmates. "She'll be the scapegoat for management on this, and that's unfair," Seabrook said.... Mayor Bill de Blasio, serving his first term, has vowed reforms. Last month, federal prosecutors investigating guard brutality at Rikers against teenage inmates joined a federal lawsuit alleging widespread violence against inmates by guards throughout Rikers to speed up the pace of those reforms.”

Rikers Island has a reputation for being a very tough place to be incarcerated. This wasn't the result of violence, thank goodness, but the guard failed to do her duty according to the rules. The guard was inexperienced with mentally ill patients, according to her union head, and he fears she will be scapegoated as a result of the incident. Patients with bipolar disorder can spiral downward into the depths of depression rapidly. The guard may have thought he seemed okay, but she shouldn't have disobeyed the psychiatrist's orders.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-jewish-settlers-attack-us-officials-in-west-bank/

Police: Jewish settlers attack U.S. officials in West Bank
AP January 2, 2015

JERUSALEM -- Jewish settlers attacked American consular officials Friday during a visit the officials made to the West Bank to investigate claims of damage to Palestinian agricultural property, Israeli police say.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the settlers threw rocks at the officials who had come to the area near the Jewish settlement of Adi Ad in two consular vehicles to look into Palestinian claims that settlers uprooted scores of Palestinian olive trees the day before.

He said that after the rock barrage began, accompanying American security personnel ordered the consular officials back into their vehicles - which were also pelted with rocks.

The vehicles then left the area, Rosenfeld said, adding that police had opened an inquiry following the filing of an official complaint.

Another police official, spokeswoman Luba Samri, said that the American security personnel did not use their weapons during the attack on the American officials.

The American Consulate General in Jerusalem had no immediate comment.

Settlers have often spoken against what they call foreign interference in their affairs, but this is the first known physical attack against diplomatic personnel.

The United States is by far Israel's most important foreign ally, providing the country with some $3 billion in annual aid and supporting its positions in international forums, despite frequent criticism.




“Jewish settlers attacked American consular officials Friday during a visit the officials made to the West Bank to investigate claims of damage to Palestinian agricultural property, Israeli police say.... to look into Palestinian claims that settlers uprooted scores of Palestinian olive trees the day before.... American security personnel ordered the consular officials back into their vehicles - which were also pelted with rocks. The vehicles then left the area, Rosenfeld said, adding that police had opened an inquiry following the filing of an official complaint.... Settlers have often spoken against what they call foreign interference in their affairs, but this is the first known physical attack against diplomatic personnel. The United States is by far Israel's most important foreign ally, providing the country with some $3 billion in annual aid and supporting its positions in international forums, despite frequent criticism.”

When I hear of this kind of thing I have very little sympathy with the Israelis. Were they retaliating against the Palestinians for a particular reason, or just to damage their land hoping to take it over for their own use? I wonder what Obama will do about this. We need to stop giving Israel all that aid. Maybe if we do that they will cut down on their expenses by stopping all the settlement on Palestinian land. The UN could also come down against them with sanctions.





http://www.npr.org/2015/01/02/371925732/trial-of-polygraph-critic-renews-debate-over-tests-accuracy

Trial Of Polygraph Critic Renews Debate Over Tests' Accuracy
Martin Kaste
JANUARY 02, 2015

The federal government is throwing the book at one of the most vocal critics of the polygraph test.

Doug Williams, a man who makes his living teaching people how to beat the test, will go on trial in January on charges of witness tampering and mail fraud. But Williams' defenders say he's being punished by a government that has become overly dependent on polygraphs.

Williams, a former Oklahoma City police officer, has spent decades as a polygraph critic, going on shows such as CBS's 60 Minutes to slam the test as junk science and selling his techniques for "beating" the test on his website.

He also offers one-on-one training, and that's how he got in trouble with the federal government. Undercover agents approached Williams, posing as clients, and asked him to help them with polygraph tests. They told him they needed to pass the test to obtain or keep a federal job, and they said he was willing to help them even after they told him they planned to lie on the test. The government calls that witness tampering.

But Williams sees the situation very differently.

"This indictment is brought simply to punish and silence me because I have the audacity to protest the use of the polygraph," he says.

That's all he'll say to reporters right now because he's under orders from his lawyer. The Justice Department won't comment on the case, but even Williams' fans think he's in trouble.

"Obviously, they want to get him," says Peter Moskos, a former police officer who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I think they got him dead to rights, too."

Moskos shares Williams' disdain for the polygraph, which is widely used to screen applicants for law enforcement jobs. But he admits Williams may have crossed a line.

"Just because they're getting him, and just because he did, perhaps knowing people were going to lie on the test, still help them out, that doesn't make the test any better," Moskos says.

And that's the decades-old question that's been revived by the Williams case: How accurate are polygraph tests?

In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences conducted a comprehensive review of the research on polygraphs. It concluded that the test performed far better than chance in catching lies. But the researchers also found the test produced too many false positives.

"These channels that the polygraph captures, whether it's the sweating on fingertips or breathing, this information does tie in to the notion of lying or deception," says Stephen Fienberg, the statistician who was chairman of the National Academy of Sciences review. "Unfortunately, it ties into other things as well."

Fienberg says too many honest people are tagged as liars by the tests. For that reason, the reviewers concluded that the test wasn't reliable enough to use for national security checks or to screen job applicants.

"My personal conclusion is it has no place in government's dealings with its citizens," Fienberg says.

The defenders of polygraphs actually embrace the National Academy of Sciences review, emphasizing its conclusion that the tests results are "better than chance." Raymond Nelson, president of the American Polygraph Association, acknowledges the test isn't perfect but says its accuracy rate is still above 80 percent.

"That's still better than any other technology available today," Nelson says. "It's still better than trying to make human judgments based on non-instrumental methods for credibility assessment."

And Congress seems to think the polygraph is good enough — for government work, at least. Although Congress banned private employers from using polygraphs on job applicants back in 1988, it exempted government employers. The test still looms large for thousands of federal and local law enforcement employees.

Moskos says the polygraph has derailed many promising police careers. He says he passed it in 1999 only because he prepared himself by researching it, and he advises the aspiring police officers in his classes to do the same.

"You're a fool if you go into a lie detector test thinking that telling the truth is good enough," Moskos says.

The polygraph's power as an interrogation aid depends on whether people believe in it, and many critics think that's why the government has come down hard on anti-polygraph trainers.

In 2012, federal agents conducted a similar sting against a man named Chad Dixon in Indiana. Undercover agents say Dixon was also willing to train people to lie on government polygraphs. When prosecutors threatened him with a lengthy sentence, Dixon decided not to risk a trial and pleaded guilty to lesser charges. He served eight months in prison.

Anti-polygraph trainers and activists say there seems to be a new pressure on them. George Maschke, who runs antipolygraph.org, says he has received suspicious phone calls from potential clients, and he wonders whether they're really federal agents trying to see if he'll make the mistake of offering to help them lie on a government test.

These investigations seem to be the result of a 2010 law that expanded the polygraph requirement to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the nation's largest law enforcement agency. That expansion drove new clients to anti-polygraph trainers like Williams and led to the sting against him. Neither the Justice Department nor CBP would comment on the investigations.

Fienberg says he doesn't defend all the actions of anti-polygraph trainers such as Williams, but he also finds the sting operations disturbing.

"To think that the government now wants to stop people who are going to help expose [the polygraph's] fallibilities is to me pretty ludicrous," Fienberg says.




“Doug Williams, a man who makes his living teaching people how to beat the test, will go on trial in January on charges of witness tampering and mail fraud. But Williams' defenders say he's being punished by a government that has become overly dependent on polygraphs. Williams, a former Oklahoma City police officer, has spent decades as a polygraph critic, going on shows such as CBS's 60 Minutes to slam the test as junk science and selling his techniques for "beating" the test on his website.... "Obviously, they want to get him," says Peter Moskos, a former police officer who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I think they got him dead to rights, too." Moskos shares Williams' disdain for the polygraph, which is widely used to screen applicants for law enforcement jobs. But he admits Williams may have crossed a line.... In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences conducted a comprehensive review of the research on polygraphs. It concluded that the test performed far better than chance in catching lies. But the researchers also found the test produced too many false positives. "These channels that the polygraph captures, whether it's the sweating on fingertips or breathing, this information does tie in to the notion of lying or deception," says Stephen Fienberg, the statistician who was chairman of the National Academy of Sciences review. "Unfortunately, it ties into other things as well."... "My personal conclusion is it has no place in government's dealings with its citizens," Fienberg says. he defenders of polygraphs actually embrace the National Academy of Sciences review, emphasizing its conclusion that the tests results are "better than chance." Raymond Nelson, president of the American Polygraph Association, acknowledges the test isn't perfect but says its accuracy rate is still above 80 percent.... And Congress seems to think the polygraph is good enough — for government work, at least. Although Congress banned private employers from using polygraphs on job applicants back in 1988, it exempted government employers. The test still looms large for thousands of federal and local law enforcement employees. Moskos says the polygraph has derailed many promising police careers. He says he passed it in 1999 only because he prepared himself by researching it, and he advises the aspiring police officers in his classes to do the same.... "You're a fool if you go into a lie detector test thinking that telling the truth is good enough," Moskos says. The polygraph's power as an interrogation aid depends on whether people believe in it, and many critics think that's why the government has come down hard on anti-polygraph trainers.... Anti-polygraph trainers and activists say there seems to be a new pressure on them. George Maschke, who runs antipolygraph.org, says he has received suspicious phone calls from potential clients, and he wonders whether they're really federal agents trying to see if he'll make the mistake of offering to help them lie on a government test.”

“These investigations seem to be the result of a 2010 law that expanded the polygraph requirement to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the nation's largest law enforcement agency.” Congress had already banned the use of the test by private employers, but now has mandated it for the Border Patrol. What the heck did they do that for? Could it be another Tea Party move? If it seems harsh it must be good? That test has been in the news as being prone to errors for years. 80% accuracy at spotting lies might sound pretty good, but it's a sensitive issue. Those who are nervous, and some people are even when not really under pressure, can be deemed to be lying. That could mean that they just don't get the job, or it could mean the information is held and later used against them on other job application situations. If the applicant fails the lie detector test, that failure should never make its way outside the computer files of the Border Control – or other department. The police haven't been able to use the information in court in many places for years. However police still use them. According to a 2014 Vox article, they are still used “probably as a prop in the theater of interrogation” which is something I've seen on some TV detective shows – an officer will pull various stunts and even directly lie to the suspect to convince him to confess to a presumed crime. The Court in 1998 ruled that governments “may ban their use in courts,” and as a result a majority of states do ban them, but the ban has not been mandated, so police, etc., do still use them. In some cases, since they can't be used against a suspect and therefore it shouldn't violate their rights, if it helps to weed out liars from sensitive government positions it makes sense. I wouldn't like to see a Border Patrol Officer hired who plans to use his job as a means of confiscating drugs for resale at his own street corner drug shop.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/wp040198.htm

Justices Allow Ban on Polygraph Use
By Joan Biskupic
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 1, 1998; Page A01

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that state and federal governments may ban the use of polygraph evidence in court, declaring that doubts and uncertainties remain about the accuracy of the so-called lie-detector tests.

Close to 30 states, including Maryland and Virginia, ban polygraph evidence, and some legal experts said yesterday's 8 to 1 decision may prompt the states that do not have outright prohibitions on polygraphs to consider imposing them.

The ruling marks the first time the high court has taken up the issue of polygraph testing, and it comes at a time when the machines are increasingly being used outside the courtroom. Prosecutors use them to extract confessions from suspects and defense lawyers use them for leverage in plea bargains. The military uses them to safeguard national security and prevent espionage, and companies often rely on them to uncover employee wrongdoing or to monitor workers in sensitive jobs.

Although the test results can still be used for these purposes, the Supreme Court yesterday said they can be banned from courtrooms, and sent a signal that their accuracy is in doubt.

Advocates of polygraphs say the instruments have grown increasingly sophisticated in recent years in their ability to determine whether a person is lying by recording their breathing, blood pressure and skin conditions.
But several justices expressed skepticism about the science and the ability of any examiner using the polygraph device to accurately gauge whether someone is telling the truth.

"There is simply no consensus that polygraph evidence is reliable," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court.

Because "uncertainties plague even the best polygraph exams," the court found that prohibiting a defendant from introducing the results of a polygraph test, to show he is telling the truth, does not violate his right to fully defend himself.

Yesterday's case involved Edward G. Scheffer, a former U.S. airman who was court-martialed for using methamphetamines, passing bad checks and going AWOL. Yet he had passed a polygraph test asking whether he had used illegal drugs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said the military's automatic ban on polygraphs was unconstitutional and that Scheffer had a right to at least try to lay a foundation for the reliability of the polygraph result, as he would other evidence.

But the Supreme Court reversed that decision, ruling that Scheffer was not "significantly impaired" by exclusion of the polygraph evidence.

Although only one justice dissented, the majority spoke with no definitiveness.
Thomas and three other justices sought not only to uphold bans on polygraph evidence, but to discourage states from ever allowing their use in court. "By its very nature, polygraph evidence may diminish the jury's role in making credibility determinations," Thomas said, joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and David H. Souter.

But the other justices in the majority broke ranks, saying that perhaps in the future another dispute might offer a more compelling case for the introduction of polygraph testimony.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in a concurring statement that he agreed with the majority that a defendant does not have a constitutional right to use polygraph evidence, but he doubted that an automatic exclusion of the evidence was "wise." Joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer, Kennedy said some later case may be more compelling to say that defendants have a right to introduce polygraphs.

Justice John Paul Stevens, who was the lone dissenter, emphasized the value of the tests to a defendant and noted that the military gives "hundreds of thousands of such tests and routinely uses their results for a wide variety of official decisions."
Stevens called the government's position inconsistent. While it routinely uses the test and says it is an "effective investigatory tool," the Justice Department said it was not reliable enough to be used in court and, unlike other scientific evidence, could mislead a jury by purporting to show the "truth."

"There will always be critics of the polygraph," said Gordon L. Vaughan, counsel for the American Polygraph Association. "But I think the opinions suggest that there is an ongoing debate about the reliability of the polygraph." Thomas wrote that most states ban polygraph evidence, and Vaughan said that breaks down into 29 states with outright bans, 16 states that allow some test results if both the prosecution and defense agree to it. One state, New Mexico, makes them generally admissible.

Federal courts are split on whether polygraph results may be introduced. "This ruling could have some tendency to discourage the admission of polygraphs," said Charles W. Daniels of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Charles L. Hobson, of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, which sided with the government, said the ruling in United States v. Scheffer properly gives state and federal governments the ability to limit questionable evidence. 
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company