Pasadena appeals court blocks law banning masks for federal agents

PASADENA, Calif. (KESQ) - A Pasadena appeals court today temporarily blocked California from enforcing a law limiting when federal agents can wear masks.

The No Vigilantes Act, passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, came in response to the Trump administration's immigration raids in Southern California over the summer, during which masked, unidentified federal officers detained people as part of the president's mass deportation program.   

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the state's attempt to regulate federal law enforcement violates the Constitution.   

"We conclude that the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions,'' Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, wrote in the court's opinion. "The Supremacy Clause forbids the state from enforcing such legislation. The United States is therefore likely to succeed on the merits of its Supremacy Clause claim, and the other preliminary injunction factors also weigh in its favor. Thus, we grant the motion for an injunction pending appeal."

The No Vigilantes Act requires any non-uniformed federal law enforcement officer operating in California, with narrow exceptions, to visibly display identification while performing official duties, and officers who violate the law face criminal prosecution by the state.   

Previously, a Los Angeles federal judge rejected the Trump administration's claim that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents need to wear masks to prevent doxing, meaning the online disclosure of agents' personal information that could lead to harassment or targeting.

However, the judge said in her ruling that California's No Secret Police Act, a separate state law, appears to discriminate against the federal government because its provisions do not apply to state or local law enforcement officers.   

But the judge upheld the No Vigilantes Act, which requires most local, state and federal law enforcement personnel to display their name or badge number while on duty.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California applauded the circuit court's ruling.   

"Huge legal victory this morning in the Ninth Circuit, where the court permanently enjoined California's unconstitutional mask law targeting federal agents,'' he posted on social media.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued California, Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta in September, challenging what the federal government claimed is an ``unconstitutional'' attempt to impede federal law enforcement by imposing the mask ban and identification requirement on officers.  

The laws made California the first state in the nation to prohibit federal law enforcement, including ICE agents, from hiding their identities, and requiring non-uniformed federal law enforcement to visibly display identification information, including agency, name or badge number during enforcement duties.  

The laws took effect Jan. 1, but were not being enforced while their constitutionality was challenged in court.

The DOJ lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, alleges that the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act threaten the safety of officers facing harassment, doxing and violence while carrying out enforcement duties.   

"California's anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand,'' according to a statement from the department.

The Trump administration's complaint stated that the federal government did not intend to comply with the challenged laws.