From: ndallen@r-node.gts.org (Nigel Allen)
Subject: U.S. Justice Department Publishes Proposed Rules on Communications With Represented Persons
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 08:47:48 GMT

Here is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 Justice Department Publishes Proposed Rules on Communications With
Represented Persons
 To: National Desk
 Contact: Joseph Krovisky of the U.S. Department of Justice,
          202-514-2007

   WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 -- The U.S. Department of Justice today 
announced the publication in the Federal Register of a proposed
set of rules regarding the circumstances under which government
attorneys may engage in communications with persons who are
represented by counsel.
   The proposal is intended to provide bright-line guidance to
federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials in performance of
their obligations to enforce federal laws.  The proposal is also
intended to resolve a long-standing problem involving the uneven
application of sometimes conflicting state and local attorney ethical
rules addressing such communications to government attorneys involved
in criminal and civil law enforcement.  State and local rules, which
were originally designed for private attorneys conducting civil
litigation, have provided little practical guidance to federal
prosecutors and have been subject to widely differing
interpretations.
   The proposed rules outline for the first time a clear,
comprehensive, and uniform set of guidelines for Department of
Justice attorneys.  "The proposed regulation strikes a proper
balance between effective law enforcement and the constitutional
right to counsel," said Attorney General William P. Barr.
   The proposed rules are part of a comprehensive package addressing
the issue, including amendments to the U.S. Attorney's Manual and the
publication of a detailed commentary explaining and interpreting the
rules.  The publication of the proposed rules in the Federal Register
will be followed by a 30-day period for public comment.
   The proposal is the culmination of more than a year and a half of
study and analysis within the department, under the auspices of a
subcommittee of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of U.S.
Attorneys headed by Deborah J. Daniels, United States Attorney for
the Southern District of Indiana, and F. Dennis Saylor, Special
Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division.
   Dozens of career law enforcement attorneys contributed to the
development of the proposal, including representatives from the
Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Criminal, Environment and Natural
Resources, and Tax Divisions, the FBI, the DEA, and more than two
dozen U.S. Attorney's offices.  In particular, the following
individuals made outstanding contributions to the development of the
project: Joyce R. Branda, deputy director, Commercial Litigation
Branch, Civil Division; Suzanne Durrell, Assistant U.S. Attorney,
District of Massachusetts; J. Douglas Wilson, attorney, Appellate
Section, Criminal Division; Mark Rotert, chief of the General Crimes
Division, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of
Illinois; and Dan Polster, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District
of Ohio.
 -30-