Bondi claims win in ICE mask ban fight but court ruled on different California case
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Gen.Pam Bondi declared a triumph against California on Friday, touting an appellate court ruling that she said blocked a state ban on immigration agents and other law enforcement officers wearing masks.“The 9th Circuit has now issued a FULL stay blocking California’s ban on masks for federal law enforcement agents,” Bondi posted on the social media site X, calling the Feb.
19 decision a “key victory.”Bondi, however, appeared confused about which case the court was ruling on this week.A federal judge in Los Angeles blocked California’s first-in-the-nation mask ban 10 days earlier, on Feb.9.At the time, U.S.
District Judge Christina A.Snyder said she was “constrained” to block the law because it included only local and federal officers, while exempting state law enforcement.
The state did not appeal that decision.Instead, on Wednesday, the law’s author Sen.
Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced a new mask bill without the problematic carve-out for state officers.With the initial legal challenge already decided and the new bill still pending in the legislature, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has no reason to revisit the mask ban.
The ruling that Bondi appeared to reference involves a separate California law requiring law enforcement officers to display identification while on duty.Snyder had previously ruled the “No Vigilantes Act” could take effect because it did not exempt state police, a decision the Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit.
The appellate court is set to review the matter early next month.Until then, the court issued an injunction that pauses the state law from taking effect.Issuing a temporary administrative injunction is a common procedural move, allowing judges to freeze things in the status quo until the court has a chance to weigh the law and come to a decision.
Thursday’s order set a hearing in the Richar...