the typical path this will follow is will go to the Appeals level and might work its way to the Supreme Court if enough of a push is made. Likely the government will push it up with the idea they can make it happen. Another angle they are going to follow is pushing Congress to legislate the requirement.

So the real question is when does this happen? Will Congress get involved at the behest of the Justice Department and mandate access? If so, how long before phone companies are required to lock out devices running a version of the software that does not comply?

I still want an erase/panic code for my phone, both through pass phrase and touch sensor. That way I could hand over an unlocked phone that is effectively returned to manufacturer specs.

At which point you get nailed for tampering with evidence.

At which point I would say "What evidence?" The government, with its warrant, is seeking to find information on my phone, if there's no information on my phone, who's to say it was there in the first place?

A wiped phone is evidence that you obstructed an investigation. You can go to prison for clearing your browser cache.

A dead man's switch addresses this threat model. If you don't enter the passphrase every 24 hours, the phone resets to factory default.

The powers that be would be highly unamused. It would make for some interesting case law.

This is a new and frightening technology to many veterans of the justice system. These are the people who thought computers were a fad or a joke, and they're perpetually surprised at how popular computers have become.

If they appeal, it'll go to a higher court which could overrule the lower court. If a higher court refuses to hear the case (as the supreme court often does), then the ruling of the highest ruling court stands.

The law is vague because current laws were written by people who didn't understand the tech or were writing to govern or regulate a different technology entirely.