The issue focused on Marien's legal rights. In court, Attorney General Jeff Sessions had asked federal judges to examine what civil rights laws criminalized political speech. Justice Department lawyers pointed out that law enforcement officials do not have constitutional rights to prohibit political speech.

In the Supreme Court case, Justice Anthony Kennedy called for courts to deal with political speech as broadly as possible. He said political speech is constitutionally protected and cannot be prosecuted by federal prosecutors. "We would never prosecute a lawyer who presented himself in public with