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Marin Protocol (Paired-Testing) Examinations
In an endeavor to reduce perjury, polygraph examiners may conduct "Marin Protocol" examinations under some very specific conditions. The Marin Protocol may be appropriate when there are two parties from opposing sides who are offering contradictory testimony regarding an event. They agree that they will both undergo polygraph testing about the contested issue at some time before the court hearing. Also part of the agreement is that, if the results of the two examinations point to deception for one of the parties, that party will not be able to testify in court about the contested event. Moreover, the losing party must underwrite the cost of all polygraph testing. If both parties fail, or are found inconclusive, the conditions of the Protocol are no longer in effect. The goal is to afford the party with few resources but the truth to have an advantage over a perjurer with more resources. The paired-testing approach also minimizes polygraph decision errors. If the average error rate of a single-issue polygraph examination is 14% (according to the National Academy of Sciences), the likelihood of two errors (that is, both examinations being wrong) is 14% of 14%, or only about 2%.
Therefore, using the well established statistical principle of joint probabilities, the polygraph can potentially be used to reduce perjury while also delivering a very low rate of error. For more information, go to http://www.veritascenter.org/
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