All Writs Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The All Writs Act is a United States federal statute, codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1651, which authorizes the United States federal courts to "issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law."

The act in its original form was part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. The current form of the act was first passed in 1911[1] and the act has been amended several times since then.[2]

On October 31, 2014, the act was used by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York to compel an unnamed smartphone manufacturer to bypass the lock screen of a smartphone allegedly involved in a credit card fraud.[3]

Similarly, on November 3, 2014, the Oakland Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office named Apple, Inc. in papers invoking the Act, which were filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Court documents obtained by Ars Technica reveal,[4] that federal law enforcement sought to get Apple to unlock an iPhone 5S as part of a criminal case.[5]

On February 16, 2016, the Act was invoked again in an order that Apple, Inc. create a special version of its iOS operating system, with certain security features removed, for Federal law enforcement officers to use as part of an investigation into the San Bernardino terrorist attack.[6] Apple CEO Tim Cook responded in an open letter warning of the precedent that following the order would create.[7] On the same day, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced its intention to support efforts by Apple, Inc. to resist the order.[8]