PRIA Logo™
119-s-3850119th Congress

Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

Sponsored By: Senator Wyden, Ron [D-OR]

Introduced

Summary

Protect attorney‑client privilege in electronic communications of incarcerated people. This bill would require the Attorney General to set rules and create or modify a secure program so privileged electronic messages are excluded from monitoring and are retained for the sender until release.

Show full summary
  • Incarcerated people and attorneys: Would allow privileged electronic communications to be excluded from monitoring and kept so the incarcerated sender can access them until release.
  • Attorney General and DOJ: Would require the Attorney General to issue a report, establish guidelines, and create or modify a program or system to implement these protections within two years, and to notify incarcerated people while the program is being set up.
  • Law enforcement and courts: Would limit access so only program administrators may handle retained privileged contents for system needs, and would allow investigators to access them only with a warrant plus approval from a U.S. Attorney or Assistant Attorney General. Reviewers who assess privilege could not take part in related prosecutions, and courts could suppress evidence obtained in violation.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Protect attorney-client messages for inmates

If enacted, the Attorney General would have to report, issue guidelines, and create or modify a system within two years. The system would let an incarcerated person send and receive electronic messages that exclude attorney-client messages from routine monitoring. The Bureau of Prisons could keep copies of messages, including attorney-client messages, and the incarcerated person could access those copies until release. Law enforcement could read privileged messages only with a court warrant, and a warrant application could not go forward without approval from a U.S. Attorney or an Assistant Attorney General. The Attorney General could only access retained privileged communications to build or run the system and could not review their contents for other purposes. An incarcerated person could waive the warrant rule. The Bureau could require proof that someone is an attorney before allowing messages. Non-privileged messages could still be monitored. The Attorney General would have to give written notice to inmates about monitoring between enactment and when the system starts.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Wyden, Ron [D-OR]

OR • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY]

    WY • R

    Sponsored 2/11/2026

  • Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY]

    KY • R

    Sponsored 4/27/2026

  • Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]

    CT • D

    Sponsored 4/27/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation