The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday upheld the right of the state Parole Board to require paroled sex offenders to undergo periodic lie-detector tests to determine if they are violating the terms of their release from prison.

In a unanimous ruling, the court said the use of lie-detector tests, while still too unreliable to be used as evidence in court, can be considered “therapeutic” in nature and can be useful in assessing parolees' internet searches and other personal habits.

Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina, writing for the court, said the Parole Board must tell paroled sex offenders that the results of lie-detector tests cannot be used against them to prosecute criminal charges, although the court stopped short of requiring that those offenders be allowed to have attorneys with them while they are undergoing the polygraph exams.