During the 1807 treason trial of Aaron Burr, with Chief Justice John Marshall presiding, the government asked Burr’s private secretary if he knew the cipher to an encrypted letter Burr had sent to a co-conspirator. Burr’s secretary invoked the privilege against self-incrimination, leading to an extensive debate on the meaning of the privilege and an opinion from the Chief Justice. Mobile devices may be the modern equivalent to a cipher letter. Can the government compel someone to unlock or decrypt a phone or digital device? This is the question recently before the Supreme Court and one that Professor Kevin C. Walsh, University of Richmond School of Law, and Professor Orin S. Kerr, UC Berkeley School of Law, will explore in “Decryption Originalism: The Lessons of Burr.” Free for JMC Members, students, teachers, and military; $10 for non-members; $40 for CLE credit*
*CLE credit pending approval
