{"id":"8290c313-8dec-42a9-9d6b-de549ec4a23b","feedVisibility":"normal","congress":119,"billType":"hr","billNumber":7491,"title":"Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act","displayTitle":"Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act","abstract":"Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act This bill prohibits the Department of Justice from monitoring the contents of a privileged electronic communication between an incarcerated person and his or her legal representative.","displaySummary":"<p><strong>YVN Summary</strong></p>\n\n<p>Emails and electronic messages between federal prisoners and their lawyers are currently monitored by the Bureau of Prisons, raising serious attorney-client privilege concerns. This bill would require the Attorney General to set up a system that shields the content of those privileged communications from surveillance. Law enforcement could still access stored messages, but only with a warrant approved by a U.S. Attorney, and any attorney who reviews those messages for privilege screening would be barred from working on the related case. Evidence obtained in violation of these rules could be thrown out in court.</p>","status":"COMMITTEE_CONSIDERATION","topics":[],"introducedAt":"2026-02-11T00:00:00+00:00","latestActionAt":"2026-02-11T00:00:00+00:00","congressGovUrl":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7491","accountabilityFlags":{},"tldr":"Shields federal prisoners' emails to their lawyers from routine Bureau of Prisons monitoring, requiring a warrant to access them.","summaryStandard":null,"flagExplainers":{},"flagValence":{},"needsResummary":false,"displaySummaryHtml":null,"rawStatusText":"Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.","chamber":"HOUSE","policyArea":"Crime and Law Enforcement","legislativeSubjects":[],"lawStatus":null,"lawNumber":null,"latestActionText":"Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.","latestTextVersion":"Introduced in House","textVersionUsed":"Introduced in House","dateAdded":"2026-04-06T00:00:00+00:00","summarizedAt":"2026-04-06T00:00:00+00:00","recordId":"8290c313-8dec-42a9-9d6b-de549ec4a23b","feedIdentityKey":"119/hr/7491","websiteBillId":"HR-7491","yourvoiceSummary":"Emails and electronic messages between federal prisoners and their lawyers are currently monitored by the Bureau of Prisons, raising serious attorney-client privilege concerns. This bill would require the Attorney General to set up a system that shields the content of those privileged communications from surveillance. Law enforcement could still access stored messages, but only with a warrant approved by a U.S. Attorney, and any attorney who reviews those messages for privilege screening would be barred from working on the related case. Evidence obtained in violation of these rules could be thrown out in court.","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T02:21:26.912231+00:00"}