Kind of what I was thinking-even if you don’t forget, how do you force someone to unlock, and what is possibly a fair punishment? Sounds crazy ruling to me.

> life in prison

You are right. A court that believes you can be compelled to reveal your password will likely hold you in contempt of court for refusing to do so.

And, yes, life in prison is indeed a possible repercussion of a "contempt" judgement. Just ask H. Beatty Chadwick who was forced to spent 14 years in prison (for "civil contempt of court") because the court asked him to cough up $2.5 million that he did not have: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Beatty_Chadwick

I think a court would reason that if a phone is being used hour by hour, it's not likely that a person would "forget" that passcode suddenly, and there is a more simple explanation of what's happening.