The US founding fathers "would be appalled" by a Department of Justice request to unlock an encrypted iPhone, Apple said on Tuesday in its final brief before a court showdown next week.
Apple is fighting a court order obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month, which requires the company to write new software to disable passcode protection and allow access to the phone used by San Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook.
According to Apple, the government also believes the courts can order private parties "to do virtually anything the Justice Department and FBI can dream up. The Founders would be appalled."
The Justice Department said it looked forward to responding to Apple's arguments in court.
"As we have said in our filings, the Constitution and the three branches of the federal government should be entrusted to strike the balance between each citizen's right to privacy and all citizens' right to safety and justice," spokeswoman Emily Pierce said.
The FBI wants to read data on the phone to try and find out whether or not Farook and his wife Tashfeen had contacts with militant groups.
The couple shot and killed 14 people last December at a Christmas party in California, and both later died in a shootout with police.
The government has claimed Apple is refusing access as part of a "marketing strategy" to show off its commitment to customer privacy.
In response, Apple senior director Robert Ferrini filed a sworn statement saying Apple has created nearly 1,800 advertisements worldwide since rolling out its iOS 8 operating system in October 2014, generating an estimated 253 billion impressions worldwide.
"Of those advertisements, not a single one has ever advertised or promoted the ability of Apple's software to block law enforcement requests for access to the contents of Apple devices," Ferrini said.
Repeating some of the arguments from its previous court filings, Apple on Tuesday said the court order violated free speech rights by compelling it to create software, and contradicted the purpose of a 1994 law called CALEA, which regulates government surveillance of communications networks.
The government has asked Apple to create a new version of its operating system, which would circumvent a feature that erases data on an iPhone after too many incorrect passwords are entered.
