Re: 5th protect password?

[Mark Eckenwiler <eck@panix.com>]

Roger  Schlafly sez:
+    [quotes from]
+    DOE v. United States, 487 U.S. 201; 108 S. Ct. 2341 (1988)
+ ...
+ I conclude that in a criminal case, all of the supreme court
+ justices agree that a criminal defendant cannot be forced to
+ reveal the combination to a wall safe, or any other information in
+ his mind, by the Fifth Amendment.

Except that the Fifth Amendment is not limited to "criminal cases" in
the way one might ordinarily understand that phrase.  One may assert
the Fifth Amendment in a civil case, in an administrative proceeding,
at a legislative hearing, or, indeed, in the absence of any formal
proceeding.  See _Kastigar_. 

(I posted a summary of Doe II just the other day.  Did it not reach
the list?)

Also, "any other information" is a little too broad.  You can be
forced to reveal "pedigree" information such as name and DOB.  See
_Penna. v. Muniz_ (1990).  Asking an apparently drunk driver the date
of his sixth birthday (as part of a DWI test) is, however, an effort
to elicit Fifth Amendment "testimony"; given the added factors of
potential incrimination and compulsion (implicit in custodial
interrogation sans Miranda warnings), the privilege may be validly
exercised in response to such a question.  See ibid.

The much more interesting question, from a legal perspective, is what
happens if your key/password/passphrase is written/stored on physical
media.