9-29-15 New York:Lawsuit: Polygraphs shouldn't be used on sex offenders
For at least a year now, lawsuits challenging various aspects of New York's eight-year-old civil commitment law have been working their way through the courts.
Under the statute, sex offenders remain locked up in psychiatric hospitals even after their prison terms are complete. Many have gone to court questioning the diagnoses under which they are confined; other suits contend that these individuals aren't getting the treatment they should have under the law.
In a new twist, one lawsuit includes a complaint that offenders are having their Fifth Amendment rights violated by being compelled to submit to polygraphs — more commonly known as lie detector tests — to see if they are thinking about reoffending if paroled or to learn what they may be thinking about while still confined.
"You get a list of conditions. One of them is to submit to a lie detector test,'' said Charles Gerena, a sex offender who was released on parole but sent back to civil confinement at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Oneida County.
(see Gerena v Pezdek. Gerena who won this case based on improper search of his residence)
