H.R. 7491 — Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act

This section directs the Attorney General to create or modify, within 180 days of enactment, a program or system (including the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) through which Bureau of Prisons or U.S. Marshals Service inmates send or receive electronic communications, excluding privileged electronic communications (i.e., those between an inmate and the inmate's attorney, legal representative, or their agent) from monitoring. The section allows retention of all such communications' contents until the inmate's release, with access by the inmate; applies attorney-client privilege protections (including the crime-fraud exception); and restricts other access as follows: (1) the Attorney General may access retained contents solely to maintain the system without reviewing them; (2) investigative or law enforcement officers may access them only pursuant to a court warrant approved by a U.S. Attorney or Assistant Attorney General, following review by a U.S. Attorney to exclude privileged communications (with that U.S. Attorney barred from related proceedings), and (3) courts may suppress evidence from violations. The section defines key terms, including "monitoring" (accessing contents post-transmission), "incarcerated person," and "privileged electronic communication," incorporating relevant meanings from 18 U.S.C. §2510.