Prosecutors Are Reading E-mails From Inmates to Lawyers

Jailhouse conversations have been many a defendant’s downfall through incriminating words spoken to inmates or visitors, or in phone calls to friends or relatives. Inmates’ calls to or from lawyers, however, are generally exempt from such monitoring. But across the country, federal prosecutors have begun reading prisoners’ e-mails to lawyers. The issue has spurred court battles over whether inmates have a right to confidential e-mail communications with their lawyers -- a question on which federal judges have been divided.