The issue focused on recent legislation that requires political parties to keep government financial records public. Party officials had argued the law would limit political debate and civil rights.

But Justice Antonin Scalia said it was constitutional for courts to apply laws "contrary to constitutional principles." He wrote that federal courts should make rulings based on legal precedents.

In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito called the court's ruling a "great judicial irony."

"On one hand, Justice Scalia holds that laws must be