Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

Bill: 115-hr-956
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8]
Introduced: 2017-02-07
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Correctional facilities and imprisonment

Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information

Lawyers and legal services

Right of privacy

Telephone and wireless communication
Latest action: action_date: 2017-03-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-02-07
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits monitoring the contents of an electronic communication between a prisoner at a Bureau of Prisons facility and his or her attorney.</p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 956 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 7, 2017 Mr. Jeffries (for himself and Mr. Collins of Georgia ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To regulate monitoring of electronic communications between a prisoner in a Bureau of Prisons facility and that prisoner’s attorney or other legal representative, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act . 2. Monitoring of electronic communications between prisoner and attorney (a) Prohibition on monitoring Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall modify any program or system through which a prisoner (as such term is defined in section 107) sends or receives an electronic communication (as such term is defined in section 2510 of title 18, United States Code, and including the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) to exclude from monitoring the contents (as such term is defined in section 2510 of title 18, United States Code) of an electronic communication between a prisoner in a Bureau of Prisons facility and his or her attorney or other legal representative. (b) Retention of contents The modification required under subsection (a) may allow for the retention of the contents of the electronic communications described in subsection (a). (c) Exception If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that there is sufficient evidence to support a reasonable belief of the Government that the information contained in an electronic communication described in subsection (a) was for the purpose of perpetrating a fraud or crime, an in camera review of the contents of the communication may be conducted.