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| Gov't Proposes Eavesdrop Rule |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/12/2001 |
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In a move that pierces attorney-client confidentiality, the government has begun allowing prisons to monitor telephone calls and mail of some of those jailed after Sept. 11. A rule published Oct. 31 in the Federal Register says the monitoring can take place when Attorney General John Ashcroft concludes there is ``reasonable suspicion'' that the communications are designed to further terrorist acts. The rule, which went into effect the day before it became public, drew a hail of criticism from the legal community. It requires that the attorney and his client be given notice of the government's listening activities and that a ``privilege team'' of the government filter out confidential attorney-client information. Declaring that the monitoring is not surreptitious, the rule states that ``the use of a taint team and the building of a firewall will ensure that the communications which fit under the protection ... will never be revealed to prosecutors and investigators.'' The government said it was necessary to put the rule in effect without public comment so that the Justice Department ``is able to respond to current intelligence and law enforcement concerns relating to threats to the national security or risks of terrorism.'' Gerry Goldstein, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the rule will inhibit criminal defendants from reaching plea agreements with prosecutors. The American Civil Liberties Union also decried the change. Lawrence Barcella, a former federal prosecutor and now a white-collar defense attorney in Washington, called the monitoring ``a chipping away at the attorney-client privilege, which should give everyone pause.'' The Federal Bureau of Prisons ordinarily sets up two types of phones for inmates - one in which calls are monitored and the other where inmates can talk confidentially with their lawyers. The monitored phones are prominently marked so that inmates know in advance that there is eavesdropping. |
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