I find it hard to believe that the All Writs Act can still be used/relevant in today's society. The All Writs Act was created in the 18th century when the technology was nearly nothing. How can we reference this act when technology has changed exponentially? If the FBI can force Apple to build a key, you can be sure authoritarian regimes like China and Russia will turn around and force Apple to hand it over to them .... And who knows what happens next, they could use that key to oppress their own people.
The Act itself is relevant as a gap filler as long as courts issue warrants, subpoenas, etc. Apple's reply brief gives the example of a court having authority under the AWA to make provision for overnight housing for a prisoner whose testimony takes more than one day.
Apple's main statutory argument is that the government is stretching the AWA to do something that it was never intended to do when there is more recent legislation from the 90s (CALEA) where Congress ultimately rejected giving law enforcement this power.
I mean, to play devil's advocate, the Constitution was created in the 18th century, too, but we still follow that and uphold and strike down laws based on that.
