Judge Questions Legal Authority To Force Apple To Unlock iPhones

US Magistrate Judge James Orenstein raised concerns at a Brooklyn federal court hearing on Oct 26 about how much legal authority the government has to compel Apple to unlock a criminal suspect’s iPhone and access the user’s data. In this case, Apple is contesting a search warrant from federal prosecutors to unlock an iPhone 5s that belonged to Jun Feng, a defendant in a meth conspiracy case who is scheduled to go on trial in the coming weeks. Feng has pleaded not guilty. The iPhone’s passcode made it impossible for Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to access the phone’s contents, and only Apple has the capability to bypass the passcode without destroying the data within, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors from the Brooklyn US Attorney’s office say they have the authority to force Apple’s compliance under the All Writs Act, which dates back to 1789 and gives courts broad authority to carry out their duties. Since Congress has not explicitly banned the government from seeking this type of help from tech companies, it’s fair game under the law, prosecutors said. However, Judge Orenstein took issue with that reasoning, questioning how far the government can stretch the All Writs Act. He expressed concerns about how this could impact the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches if judges can make determinations on emerging areas of law that haven’t been fully debated in Congress.