Summary: A privately-owned prison in Leavenworth, Kansas has been accused of recording privileged attorney-client conversations.
After complaints from defense attorneys, an investigation was launched that found a detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas was illegally recording conversations between them and their clients.
The privately run federal prison is operated by Corrections Corporation of America. A court investigation found that the center had video recordings of every attorney-inmate meeting, and the total amount of tapes were in the hundreds. It was also discovered that Leavenworth CCA also recorded privileged phone calls between attorneys and inmates.
The ability to privately speak with representation is a fundamental principle of the American legal system, and attorneys who visited the Leavenworth center said that this right was violated. They first raised concerns about the recordings a few months ago before the investigation began. The U.S. Attorney’s Office began the recordings after they were tipped off that inmates were allegedly involved in an elaborate prison smuggling ring.
They deny any wrongdoing when it came to recording client conversations, and they stated that no one had actually reviewed the recorded footage.
CCA said that it records all prison phone calls using a sophisticated operating system called Securus, and that there were measures in place to prevent recording attorney and inmate conversations. They said that they had received complaints from attorneys about possible illegal recordings and that they immediately checked and rectified the problem.
Prosecutors also added that phone calls were not privileged because inmates were warned that all of their calls may be recorded.
Source: The Topeka Capital Journal Online
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