[dodedo]

You said: "Actively impeding the prosecution, in the form of refusing to decrypt a drive known to contain inculpatory evidence, is in many ways tantamount to destroying that evidence."

But it isn't /actively/ impeding, it's passive. One is refraining from taking an action.

[verroq]

There is no point arguing the semantics of English in a legal discussion.

>one is actively refraining from taking an action.