Cornyn: Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act Will Safeguard A Cornerstone Of The Rule Of Law

Statement

Cornyn: Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act Will Safeguard A Cornerstone Of The Rule Of Law

Joins bipartisan group of Senators in introducing legislation to protect the attorney-client privilege

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement after joining a bipartisan coalition of 11 other Senators to introduce the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2008, (S.3217) or ACPPA, last week:

"The Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act is an important step to protect the attorney-client privilege, an ancient cornerstone of the common law. To that end, the legislation aims to reverse an unfortunate trend of the last decade in which prosecutors and other federal lawyers seek to coerce organizations to waive their attorney-client privilege. Under threat of harsher treatment from the government, organizations that found themselves the target of such a request too often had little choice but to comply.

"Specifically, the bill would prohibit government lawyers from requesting that an organization waive its constitutional rights to attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine. In addition, it would prohibit government lawyers from holding an organization's assertion of those rights against the organization. I encourage all of my Senate colleagues to join us in this important effort so we can pass this legislation in a timely manner."

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