Jennifer Daskal writes:
This coming spring, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the United States v. Microsoft – a case that will determine the authority of U.S. law enforcement to compel, via a warrant, US-based companies to turn over data held outside the United States. Over at Lawfare, Orin Kerr posits that Microsoft and the government—as well as the numerous lower court judges that have weighed in—have missed the core issue in the case. According to Kerr, the key is the All Writs Act; the parties and lower court judges have, in contrast, all focused on the Stored Communications Act. According to Kerr, only the All Writs Act gives the Supreme Court the necessary latitude to craft the kind of nuanced response that is needed.
This is a more detailed reprise of a claim that Kerr made some two year ago. I disagreed then (see our back and forth here). And I disagree now.
Read more on JustSecurity.