WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Can warrants for digital evidence also require fingerprints to unlock phones?

WaPo: Volokh Conspiracy: Can warrants for digital evidence also require fingerprints to unlock phones? by Orin Kerr:

There has been a lot of press coverage recently about a search warrant obtained in Los Angeles allowing the government to force people present when the warrant is executed to press their fingers and thumbs on the fingerprint sensors of any phones or computers found there to unlock them. A lot of people have wondered: Is that legal? I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that. Here’s an overview of some of the legal issues.

First, an important caveat: It’s hard to draw conclusions about the legality of the warrant because we know so little about it. All we have is a seven-page memo in which the government makes the case for the warrant, plus word from Thomas Fox-Brewster (who broke the story) that the warrant was later executed at a residence. We haven’t seen the warrant, and we don’t know what it says. We don’t know what happened when the warrant was executed. So we don’t have much information yet.

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