Ninth Circuit Enjoins Enforcement of California Anti-Masking Law

California's law barring the wearing of masks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers has been put on hold.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Mark Bennett

"granted the United States’s motion for an injunction pending appeal enjoining the State of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Attorney General Rob Bonta from applying or enforcing § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act . . . against federal agencies and officers. Section 10 of the No Vigilantes Act requires any non uniformed `federal law enforcement officer' operating in California, with narrow exceptions, to `visibly display identification' while performing federal law enforcement duties, and officers who violate the law face criminal prosecution by the State. The panel held that the United States is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act violates the Supremacy Clause because § 10 attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions. The panel held that the other preliminary injunction factors also weigh in the United States’s favor. Accordingly, the State of California, the Governor, and the Attorney General remain enjoined, pending further order of the court, from applying or enforcing § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act against federal agencies and officers."