Brandon Parker Ruben has posted Should the Medium Affect the Message? Legal and Ethical Implications of Prosecutors Reading Inmate-Attorney Email (Fordham Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN.

Here is the abstract:

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential, legal communications between a party and her attorney from being used against her. It is among American jurisprudence’s most sacrosanct evidentiary principles. Unsurprisingly, federal prosecutors cannot eavesdrop on inmate-attorney visits or phone calls, or read inmate-attorney mail. Courts are currently divided, however, on whether or not the government can be prevented from reading inmate-attorney emails.

This Note explores the incipient body of case law that addresses whether federal prosecutors can read inmates’ legal email.