DOJ To Continue Push To Force Apple To Reveal Data In Local Drug Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday said it will continue to try to force Apple to reveal a phone's data in a New York drug case.
The government told a U.S. District judge in Brooklyn Friday that it still wants an order requiring Apple's cooperation, even though it no longer needs the company's help with a phone linked to the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.
A magistrate judge had blocked the government from forcing Apple to help in the Brooklyn case, and the government appealed, WCBS 880's Kelly Waldron reported.
CBS News Chief Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen said the government is likely to prevail.
Last month, the Department of Justice went to court demanding a reverse in ruling, calling it an "an unprecedented limitation" on judicial authority.
"The FBI just told us this week it can't hack into every single phone with that new contraption it has used," Cohen said.
The Justice Department recently dropped a legal fight to compel Apple to help it break into the iPhone used by Syed Farook, who with his wife killed 14 people.
The California and New York cases both hinge on the government's interpretation of the centuries-old All Writs Act. The new cases present another challenge for federal courts, which have to sort out how a law that is used to help government investigators squares with privacy and encryption in the digital age.
The Brooklyn case involves a government request that is less onerous for Apple and its phone technology. The so-called extraction technique works on an older iPhone operating system and has been used dozens of times before to assist investigators.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism John Miller said in a New York Times op-ed that Apple should comply with the order, arguing that privacy fears around iPhone security features were outweighed by the need to solve crimes and keep the public safe.
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