The issue focused on legal rights and copyright law. Justice Thomas wrote that enforcement of laws requiring courts to enforce criminal statutes by judicial rulings was unconstitutional. "For constitutional purposes, federal courts may enact legislation limiting statutory enforcement only if they can prove that their legislative aim is legitimate," he wrote.

One Supreme Court justice agreed with Justice Kennedy's argument: Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in her dissent that civil litigation cannot legally impose financial penalties for violations of criminal laws. She asked whether lawyers could sue prosecutors who threaten