SCOTUS Declines to Take Up NJ Cellphone Encryption Case

The Supreme Court declined to hear a cellphone privacy case about when it’s OK for police to require someone to unlock an encrypted device. SCOTUS said Monday it denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Andrews v. New Jersey (see 2104020029), an appeal of the New Jersey Supreme Court decision that the state didn’t violate the Fifth Amendment when it required Robert Andrews to turn over passwords for two cellphones. The federal high court turned down a similar Pennsylvania case in October (see 2010050042). The New Jersey attorney general’s office declined comment. Representing Andrews as counsel of record, the American Civil Liberties Union didn’t comment.