Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Monday struck down California's No Secret Police Act, because its ban on federal agents from wearing masks in the state "unlawfully discriminates" against them.
U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder said the law does not prevent federal agents from doing their jobs, but blocked the law because it specifically affects only federal agents, leaving out state and local law enforcement officers, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Politico reported.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act, as well as the No Vigilantes Act, in 2025 in response to federal immigration raids last summer in California that were seen by critics as using racial profiling and, as in other cities in the United States over the last year, using fear and intimidation while agents sought to conceal their identities amid widespread criticism.
The No Secret Police Act, Snyder wrote in a 30-page decision, "treats federal law enforcement officers differently than similarly situated state law enforcement officers" and violates the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause.
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