TrueCrypt User Held in Contempt of Court
First, there isn't enough information to know what it is this person has (or has not) done.<p>Secondly, the fifth amendment of the US Constitution allows you to refuse to provide <i>testimony</i> which you feel may incriminate you. Generally encryption pass phrases do not count as testimony, the legal system treats them as keys. And that would be covered under the fourth amendment which says the government cannot compel to you to give access to your property for search unless they have probable cause.<p>If they <i>do</i> have probable cause, they get a <i>warrant</i> which gives them the power to do the search temporarily and only for what they think exists. So if you get a warrant to search your hard drive for something, you are compelled to give them the password just like you are compelled to let them into your house if they have a warrant to search for something like drugs or guns or counterfeit plush toys.<p>However sometimes the courts do see it as a fifth amendment issue [1] and that has been under debate for a while. (As far as I can tell the legal theory is similar to the police not being able to compel you to tell them where you left the body in a capital crime.)<p>Disclaimer I am not a lawyer this isn't legal advice, and I've not followed up the cited case to see if it made it to the supreme court or not. Any circuit level decision would not be binding on different circuits.<p>[1] <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9854034-38.html" rel="nofollow">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9854034-38.html</a><p>Follow up on the Boucher case:
<a href="https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/United_States_v._Boucher" rel="nofollow">https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/United_States...</a><p>Where the fifth amendment defense was overturned.