# 119-hr-7491: Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

119-hr-7491, Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA); status introduced (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7491
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-7491
- Congress: 119
- Title: Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-02-11
- Sponsor: Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Protect attorney‑client privileged electronic communications for incarcerated people.** This bill would require the Attorney General to create or modify a system within 180 days that excludes privileged electronic communications between incarcerated individuals and their attorneys or legal representatives from monitoring and to stop using prior monitoring tools for those privileged messages.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8] (D-NY), 2026-02-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lee, Laurel M. [R-FL-15] (R-FL), 2026-02-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2026-02-11T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Stronger privacy for lawyer messages in prison: benefit, high. If enacted, the Attorney General would have 180 days to create or change a system that stops monitoring privileged electronic messages between people in prison and their lawyers. After the new system starts, older systems could not be used to send or receive privileged messages. The Bureau of Priso…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-7491 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7491)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7491 (as of 2026-04-21).