Judge Puts Rape Victims on Trial, Orders Lie Detector Tests

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-03-21 13:00:00 UTC
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Sexual assault or rape seems to be the only crime in which it's the victim who gets put on trial. In a stunning example of this, an Ohio judge ordered that four teenage sexual assault victims get wired up to take polygraph (lie detector) tests -- paid for out of their own pockets. (And these examinations cost a lot more than a #2 pencil.) Classy.

"I believe even more damage was done by the judge letting the perpetrator know she was ordering the victim to take the polygraph ... he used this to tell their peers that the judge did not believe her," one of the victims' mothers stated. "It felt like the blame was back on her and she was being victimized, by not only him [again], but by the system as well."

Te-Ping Chen reports on the Criminal Justice blog that not only is this a disturbing instance of putting the victim on trial -- in a case in which the accused had already been found guilty and were just awaiting sentencing -- polygraph tests are also highly inaccurate. Employers are banned from using them on employees, and one FBI special agent has testified they have "no validity whatsoever." So polygraph testing isn't exactly par for the course in a criminal trial.

Once of the fun things about polygraph tests is that they measure stress levels -- if a person is lying, the reasoning goes, stress goes up. Hmm, let's see: I would think that asking a rape victim anything about the assault would probably cause her stress to rise. "Were you raped?" "Yes." Stress jumps.

The prosecutor says that the judge (who has been ducking reporters) doesn't even have the authority to order this test, and in doing so, has violated Ohio's rape shield law and the federal Violence Against Women Act. So ... how did this person get to be a judge?

Photo credit: Vibragiel

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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