Re:Apple Encryption Engineers, If Ordered to Unlock iPhone, ...
by pdabbadabba on Friday March 18, 2016 @11:50AM
(#11312560)
There's really no question here. If the engineers refuse to comply with the court order the court can hold them in contempt. This means possible fines or jail time.
This is old territory, really. Courts have been ordering people to do things under the All Writs Act (including skilled labor) since it was first enacted more than 200 years ago. (The government's brief has some examples, starting on page 17. http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016.03.10-1...)
If an employee claimed he or she did not have the skills to comply with he order then, yes, there could be some sort of hearing to determine whether this was true. But establishing the requisite level of competence probably would not be as hard as you think.
This is old territory, really. Courts have been ordering people to do things under the All Writs Act (including skilled labor) since it was first enacted more than 200 years ago. (The government's brief has some examples, starting on page 17. http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016.03.10-1...)
If an employee claimed he or she did not have the skills to comply with he order then, yes, there could be some sort of hearing to determine whether this was true. But establishing the requisite level of competence probably would not be as hard as you think.