The US Justice Department has taken to a higher court the ruling that said the department could not make Apple unlock an iPhone in a New York drug case, Reuters reported. Prosecutors are relying on the same law for its fight against Apple in a California court, where a judge ordered Apple to unlock an encrypted phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
In its filing on 7 March, the Justice Department cited the California decision as evidence that the All Writs Act has been used to compel Apple to unlock the phones. The government also argued that the phone at issue in New York runs an older operating system which Apple has agreed to crack several times in previous cases.
In the NY case, a magistrate judge in Brooklyn had ruled that he did not have the legal authority under the All Writs Act to order Apple to hand over the data from the phone. Apple then came out with a statement, saying such an order would undermine fundamental principles of the Constitution. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he is willing to take the California case to the Supreme Court. Apple has said that the law enforcement request would create a "back door" to phones that could be abused by criminals and governments.
The phone in the New York case belonged to Jun Feng, who has since pleaded guilty to participation in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. The Justice Department sought to unlock Feng's phone to find other conspirators. Unlike the phone used by Rizwan Farook in San Bernardino, Feng's phone had an iOS 7 mobile operating system, which is not protected under the same encryption technology.
