Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared unsure how to resolve a dispute between Microsoft Corp. and the Justice Department over whether U.S. law should allow prosecutors to compel technology companies to hand over data stored overseas.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both conservatives, hinted at support for the Justice Department during the one-hour argument as the nine-member court wrestled with the technological complexities of email data storage.
Liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether the court needed to act in the major privacy rights case in light of Congress currently considering bipartisan legislation that would resolve the legal issue.