“On Monday, less than 24 hours before the hearing was scheduled to start, the US government asked to cancel its big court date in the Apple vs FBI fight,” Sarah Jeong reports for Motherboard. “The judge convened a quick conference with the Department of Justice and Apple attorneys. A transcript shows the judge repeatedly emphasizing that the order to compel Apple to create a backdoor for the government is ‘unenforceable’ and has been so since the court battle began weeks ago.”
“It’s hard to tell how the hearing-that-never-was would have actually gone. But on Tuesday, Cryptome published the transcript to the conference that happened right before the judge granted the government’s request to cancel the hearing,” Jeong reports. “It shows the judge pushing back — gently — against the government, while the government backpedaled on the aggressive stance it had taken against Apple in its filings.” “”
“Is the government retreating from the San Bernardino iPhone fight because its lawyers think the judge is likely to rule against them? It’s possible,” Jeong reports. “After a flood of amicus briefs and unprecedented media attention on a magisterial proceeding, Judge Pym might be having second thoughts about the order she issued on February 16.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Judge Pym likely had quite the rapid and rude awakening after issuing her ill-considered order.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
SEE ALSO:
Why a future Apple-FBI case may go very differently – March 23, 2016
Zdziarski’s take on the FBI’s ‘alternative’ method – March 23, 2016
Apple won Round 1 vs. U.S. government overreach; what comes next? – March 23, 2016