Becker County, Minnesota and several of its law enforcement officials are facing a civil rights class action lawsuit. The suit, brought by inmates at the county jail, alleges that the county illegally monitored and possibly recorded confidential and privileged telephone calls between inmates at the jail and their attorneys.
According to the suit, the inmates of the jail and their attorneys are informed in writing that attorney/client telephone calls are confidential and conseqeuntly not subject to monitoring or recording. However, the suit alleges that illegal monitoring of telephone calls to discuss inmates' cases has taken place, and the information gained has been used against the inmates during prosecution.
The plaintiffs, a former inmate and 2 criminal defense attorneys, allege that the Becker County jail's practice of monitoring and recording attorney/client privileged telephone calls violates their constitutional rights, and both federal and state law.
