"no one has any duty to provide the police with evidence as a 5th amendment protection"
I like that idea. However, the 5th amendment's protection is something different: "No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."
Consider the case of someone running a drug lab or counterfeiting press in their residence. Police show up with a warrant based on probable cause to search the residence. The person is required to unlock the door and let the police in because the police have a warrant. The person is not testifying against themselves, they are unlocking the lock to allow a warranted search. If they do not unlock the door after being presented with a warrant then that is a new crime they can be charged with, and the police will come in anyway.
In these cases with encryption the courts have consistently been finding that the password is comparable to unlocking the door to a house to which the police have a search warrant.
It has also been counterargued that speaking or writing down a password is a form of testimony, one that can be self-incriminatory, and therefore is protected by the Fifth. Most courts have not been sympathetic to this argument, though there has been one exception.
In this case the man is in possession of a lawful order from a judge to facilitate a search and he is refusing to cooperate. Thus the judge jails him until he decides to cooperate with the lawful order from the judge. This is how it is done.
I like that idea. However, the 5th amendment's protection is something different: "No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."
Consider the case of someone running a drug lab or counterfeiting press in their residence. Police show up with a warrant based on probable cause to search the residence. The person is required to unlock the door and let the police in because the police have a warrant. The person is not testifying against themselves, they are unlocking the lock to allow a warranted search. If they do not unlock the door after being presented with a warrant then that is a new crime they can be charged with, and the police will come in anyway.
In these cases with encryption the courts have consistently been finding that the password is comparable to unlocking the door to a house to which the police have a search warrant.
It has also been counterargued that speaking or writing down a password is a form of testimony, one that can be self-incriminatory, and therefore is protected by the Fifth. Most courts have not been sympathetic to this argument, though there has been one exception.
In this case the man is in possession of a lawful order from a judge to facilitate a search and he is refusing to cooperate. Thus the judge jails him until he decides to cooperate with the lawful order from the judge. This is how it is done.