Last week the Department of Justice filed a response to Apple in the ongoing case concerning whether or not Apple should unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen. At the time, Apple called the filing a “cheap shot” and said it was meant to “vilify” the company. Now, Apple has officially filed a formal response to the FBI’s submission. In the filing, Apple makes several assertions, including that the FBI is trying to “rewrite history” with its request.
Apple continues to argue in its latest filing, as it has done since the start of this case, that the All Writs Act does not give the government the power to force Apple to build a tool to unlock the iPhone in question. Apple says that instead of interpreting the Act as the “procedural tool that it is,” it is attempting to use it as an “all-powerful magic wand” by stretching it:
Furthermore in the filling, Apple says that it is the job of the courts to “zealously guard civil liberties and the rule of law and reject government overreaching” and therefore deny the FBI’s request for Apple to unlock the iPhone 5c.
Apple also calls the fact that the FBI is asking the company to put its own beliefs aside to create the backdoor tool to unlock the device ‘deeply offensive’:
Finally, Apple says that what the FBI is requesting would “appall” the Founding Fathers:
Apple has also today submitted a statement from its head of software Craig Federighi:
The full filing can be read below and we’ll continue to update this post with notable quotes as we make our way through it:
Reply Brief in Support of Apple s Motion to Vacate
