Rev. Jesse Jackson weighs in on iPhone battle between FBI & Apple

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is the latest to weigh in on the legal battle between Apple and the FBI over access to a Redlands terrorist’s encrypted iPhone, voicing support for Apple in a letter to a federal judge.

“This case cuts right to the heart of our right to live free from unwarranted govement surveillance,” Jackson said in a letter dated March 10 and addressed to U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym, who is presiding over the case in U.S. District Court in Riverside. “It is a matter of deep personal conce to me — given the past and present illegal and unwarranted spying and surveillance of civil rights organizations, much conducted under the guise of national security.”

Jackson’s letter was sent on behalf of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Chicago-based civil rights organization he founded.

“In these difficult times, the govement, courts and private companies must stand up and uphold - however unpopular — our First Amendment rights, our right to privacy and basic individual freedoms guaranteed to us under the U.S. Constitution,” Jackson said in his letter.

Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attoey’s Office in Los Angeles, declined to comment Monday.

On Tuesday, Apple will file its final response to the Department of Justice’s request that the technology giant build special software that would allow the FBI to unlock the encrypted work-issued iPhone 5C used by San Beardino mass shooting gunman Syed Rizwan Farook.

Pym granted the govement’s request on Feb. 16, which triggered an immediate response from Apple CEO Tim Cook, who vowed in an open letter to Apple customers to fight the order, which he called an “unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.”

Cook has vowed to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if need be.

Apple argues that building the software sought by the FBI will create a “master key” enabling hackers to unlock millions of other iPhones and breach the data security of its customers.

The govement, however, maintains its request is a “narrow, targeted order that will produce a narrow, targeted piece of software capable of ruing on just one iPhone, in the security of Apple’s corporate headquarters,” and that its request invades no one’s privacy and raises no constitutional issues.

A hearing is scheduled for March 22 in Riverside, where Pym will hear arguments from both sides then decide whether to uphold her initial order or rescind it at Apple’s request.

The legal battle spurred a global debate pitting the privacy rights of individuals against the interests of law enforcement and national security.

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Some of the world’s biggest technology companies including Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft have come out in support of Apple, while victims of the shooting and multiple law enforcement organizations including the San Beardino County District Attoey’s Office and the state Sheriff’s, Police Chief’s and Peace Officers’ associations are supporting the Department of Justice.

Farook, an environmental health specialist for San Beardino County’s Environmental Health Services Division, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, fatally shot 14 people and wounded 22 others during an attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Beardino on Dec. 2. Most of the victims of the attack were Farook’s colleagues attending a training seminar at the center that moing.

Farook, 28, and Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the attack. The FBI said the two were radicalized Muslims who had been preparing for a mass casualty attack, and declared the mass shooting the deadliest terrorist strike on U.S. soil since 9/11.

In his letter to Pym, Jackson said that while other writers are weighing in on the intricacies of technology and privacy rights, he wanted to bring to the forefront the “impact and implications this case has on civil rights and our historic civil rights movement.”

“The FBI infiltrated the SCLC (Southe Christian Leadership Conference), and used wire-tapping and personal threats against Dr. (Martin Luther) King — part of the relentless efforts by J. Edgar Hoover, with the support of the U.S. govement agencies, to discredit Dr. King and the civil rights movement,” Jackson said in the letter, adding that he personally has been subject to spying and surveillance by the govement.

Lastly, Jackson noted in his letter, Edward Snowden’s revelation that major tech and telecom companies collaborated with the National Security Agency in a global surveillance operation to obtain private information on millions of Americans’ telephone and Inteet activity.

“If the govement prevails against Apple, it is my fear that it will accelerate — and make easier — govement efforts to ‘hack’ into the legitimate activities of civil rights organizations and activists,” Jackson said in his letter.