
Written
by Allyson Walker
Images
by KXAN.com and Joe Mahoney/Rocky Mountain PBS I-News
Recent
news about a federal lawsuit against the Travis County Sheriff’s Office provides a
fresh reminder of how important it is for correctional facilities to make
absolutely sure their inmates’ privileged phone calls and other
communications are not recorded... or it could cost them.
The suit
claims that the Texas facility violated client-attorney privileges by recording constitutionally protected calls between inmates and their defense lawyers which were
supposed to be confidential.
While it
may represent the most recent occurrence, it is by no means the first. Privileged
conversations between inmates and lawyers have been wrongly recorded at multiple
facilities across the country (Davidson
County, TN, Alameda
County, CA, and the
Alaska Department of Corrections, just to name a few.) More...