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> > Subject: NEWS-FEDS TO BUG CONVERSATIONS WITH LAWYERS > Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 09:33:58 EST > From: Aimfl@aol.com > To: SGMAIMFL@aol.com > > So much for lawyer-client privelege and Miranda is now legally > pointless > > Published Friday, November 9, 2001 > U.S. can eavesdrop on lawyers, jailed clients > > BY GEORGE LARDNER JR. > Washington Post Service WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has > decided to listen in on the conversations of lawyers with clients in > federal custody, including people who have been detained but not > charged with any crime, whenever that is deemed necessary to prevent > violence or terrorism. > > Attorney General John Ashcroft approved the eavesdropping rule on an > emergency basis last week, without the usual waiting period for public > comment. It went into effect immediately, permitting the government to > monitor conversations and intercept mail between people in custody and > their attorneys for up to a year at a time. > > The move, which the Justice Department said was necessary ``in view of > the immediacy of the dangers to the public,'' stunned defense lawyers > and civil libertarians. They assailed it as an unconstitutional attack > on the right to counsel and, in the words of American Civil Liberties > Union official Laura Murphy, ``a terrifying precedent.''The monitoring > of attorney-client conversations is the latest in a series of > extraordinary law enforcement measures the government has taken in > response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. > > Until now, communications between inmates and their attorneys have > been exempt from the usual monitoring of social phone calls and visits > at the 100 federal prisons around the country. > > NO COURT ORDER > According to a summary published in the Federal Register on Oct. 31, > the monitoring will be conducted without a court order whenever the > attorney general certifies ``that reasonable suspicion exists to > believe that an inmate may use communications with attorneys or their > agents to facilitate acts of terrorism.''The definition of ``inmate'' > previously covered only people in custody of the federal Bureau of > Prisons, but it was changed to cover anyone ``held as witnesses, > detainees or otherwise'' by INS agents, U.S. marshals or other federal > authorities. Since Sept. 11, the government has detained nearly 1,200 > people, many on immigration violations. The Bush administration has > declined to say how many have been released. > > CHALLENGES? > Linda Osberg-Braun, a South Florida immigration attorney who was a > lead lawyer in the Elían González case, said: ``There obviously are > constitutional challenges to be made against this new rule. Perhaps it > would survive constitutional scrutiny if there were a wall between > using it for national security purposes and criminal prosecutions.`` > > Attorneys are going to be even more intimidated than they already are > in representing Middle Eastern nationals.''Explaining the new rule, > the Justice Department said authorities ``may have substantial reason > to believe that certain inmates who have been involved in terrorist or > potentially violent activities will pass messages through their > attorneys (or the attorney's legal assistant or an interpreter) to > individuals on the outside for the purpose of continuing terrorist > activities.'' > > The president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, > Irwin Schwartz of Seattle, denounced the eavesdropping as ``an > abomination'' and said it would be challenged in court at the first > opportunity.``The Code of Professional Responsibility is quite clear: > a lawyer must maintain confidentiality,'' Schwartz said. ``If we can't > speak with a client confidentially, we may not speak with him at all. > And if we can't do that, the client is stripped of his Sixth Amendment > right to have a lawyer.'' > > SAFEGUARDS The Justice Department said it will set up ``procedural > safeguards'' to protect the right to counsel. Inmates and their > attorneys will be notified ``of the government's listening > activities,'' and the monitoring will be done by a special ``taint > team'' that will not disclose what it hears to federal prosecutors or > investigators without approval by a federal judge, officials > said.Records of clearly privileged information, such as a discussion > about a client's defense, will not be retained by the monitors, the > department said. Apart from disclosures necessary to thwart imminent > violence or terrorism, any disclosures to investigators or prosecutors > must be approved by a federal judge, it added.The critics were not > mollified. ``Who's going to be on the taint team?'' asked Kate Martin, > director of the Center for National Security Studies, a nonprofit > group in Washington. ``The government says it's building a mosaic, > processing thousands of bits and pieces of information that may seem > innocuous at first glance.``How is the `taint team' going to know if > something a person says to a lawyer is part of the mosaic or not > without sharing it with others? This seems to be a useless safeguard. > What if they think what they overhear is in code?' > > 'Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report. > > > ***********************************************************NOTE: ALL > ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSIONS PURSUANT TO THE USA/PATRIOT ACT ARE NOW READ > BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. REMEMBER THE MIRANDA WARNINGS WHEN MAKING > ANY AND ALL ELECTRONIC MAIL TRANSMISSION AS NONE, WE REPEAT NONE ARE > PRIVATE IN THE WAKE OF THE PASSAGE OF THE USA/PATRIOT ANTI-FREE > SPEECH/ANTI-CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT. > NOTICE: This electronic mail (e-mail) message and any attachment to > this e-mail message contains confidential information that may be > legally privileged. This message is intended solely for the purview > and dissemination of the recipient(s) and the recipient(s) directly > affiliated organization(s). If you are not the intended recipient, you > must not review, retransmit, convert to hard copy, copy, print, use or > disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it. If you have received > this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or > by telephone at 727-826-6960 and delete this message. Please note that > if this e-mail message contains a forwarded message or is a reply to a > prior message, some or all of the contents of this message or any > attachments may not have been produced by the American Indian Movement > of Florida, Inc., its membership, affiliates, or support groups. > > > > -- If we knew where knowledge goes when it evaporates, perhaps we might learn to recover what we have lost and to reconstitute it as distilled wisdom. "How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality toward the wicked? Do justice to the poor and fatherless, deal righteously with the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the poor and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked." (A Psalm of Asaph, The Psalm for the Third Day.) How can we be sure that the unexamined life is not worth living? Michael W. Posluns, The Still Waters Group, First Nations Relations & Public Policy Daytime: 416 995-8613 Evening: 416 656-8613 Fax: 416 656-2715 36 Lauder Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M6H 3E3
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