Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

Summary

Requires the Attorney General and Bureau of Prisons to create or modify federal prison electronic messaging systems so that the contents of privileged attorney-client electronic communications are excluded from monitoring and protected from routine government review. The Attorney General must act within 180 days; privileged communications remain subject to attorney-client privilege (including the crime-fraud exception) and may be retained for the incarcerated sender’s access, while government or law enforcement access is tightly limited and generally requires a warrant plus senior departmental approval.

• Requires DOJ/BOP to exclude the contents of privileged attorney-client electronic communications from monitoring.
• Attorney General must establish or modify systems within 180 days of enactment.
• BOP may retain privileged contents and must allow the incarcerated sender access until release.
• Law enforcement can access retained privileged contents only with a warrant and after approval by a U.S. Attorney or Assistant Attorney General.
• A U.S. Attorney reviewing retained contents to ensure privilege protection must not participate in related prosecutions or share contents with prosecutors in those cases.
• Attorney-client privilege still applies to protected electronic communications, though established exceptions (like crime-fraud) remain effective.
• The Attorney General may access retained contents only to create/maintain the protected system and may not review them for investigations.
• Courts may suppress evidence obtained in violation of the statute’s access and warrant rules.
• Protections apply to federal prison electronic messaging systems (including defined inmate computer systems); non-privileged communications remain subject to monitoring.