INDEPENDENT PRACTICE #1 - CREATING A BODY PARAGRAPH

ECR Prompt: Explain your position on whether large corporations should willingly provide the government with a customer's personal information to assist in an investigation.

PRO: Apple's refusal to cooperate with the FBI was the right thing to do.

1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has dropped its lawsuit against Apple, ending its desire to force the company to create software to unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, California, gunmen. This lessens the importance of Apple's refusal to help the FBI.

2. The FBI backed off because it was able to hack into the phone without Apple's assistance. However, the issues raised by this controversy have not been resolved and we should expect a replay in the future. That's why it is important to understand why Apple was right to take the principled position it did. Basic American rights were at stake, and the purpose of law is to protect people's rights.

3. Consider what the FBI asked Apple to do. The FBI did not ask Apple to turn over information it already had; it was nothing like a search warrant. Apple did not have the information the FBI was seeking - and never has. Instead, the FBI wanted Apple to write new software to unlock Syed Farook's iPhone. Last December, Farook and his wife killed 14 people in a mass shooting in San Bernardino. Because of the privacy features of the iPhone, the FBI could not search Farook's phone for information about the attack without Apple's help. When Apple refused, the FBI fought to force the company to help by taking it to court.