Effective Assistance of Counsel Resources

ABA Letters

ABA Letter in Support of Criminal Justice Reform Legislation, H.R. 546, H.R. 1693/S. 79, and S. 998

On October 8, 2021, ABA President Reginald Turner called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to call up criminal justice reform legislation on the Senate floor and to include three bipartisan bills in any package of such legislation: H.R. 546 (the Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act); S. 79/H.R. 1693 (the EQUAL Act); and S. 998 (the Driving for Opportunity Act). 

ABA Letter to Representatives Jeffries and Taylor Thanking Them for Their Introduction of the Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

On January 28, 2021, the ABA sent a letter to the House thanking Representatives Jeffries and Taylor for their support for Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act. In it, Refo notes that the attorney-client privilege is fundamental to our system of justice and critical to the work of lawyers who rely on confidential communications with their clients to represent their clients’ interests in legal proceedings and to ensure fairness in the federal criminal justice system

Bureau of Prisons Documents

Form BP-A0934: Inmate Agreement for Participation in TRULINCS Electronic Messaging Program

Congressional Resources

Senate Judiciary Committee

House Judiciary Committee

Media

NACDL Fourth Amendment Center and the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, University of California Berkley School of Law, Preserving Incarcerated Persons’ Attorney-Client Privilege in the 21st Century: Why the Federal Bureau of Prisons Must Stop Monitoring Confidential Legal Emails​ (2020)

Carrie Johnson, When It Comes to Email, Some Prisoners Say Attorney-Client Privilege Has Been Erased, National Public Radio, March 31, 2021