The U.S. Department of Justice is suing New Jersey over a law that bars local, state, and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks and requires them to show identification before making arrests.
The Justice Department argues that the law is unconstitutional, calling it an “illegal attempt to regulate the federal government” and saying that it would compromise the safety of federal officers.
Threatening federal agents with prosecution for concealing their identities during detentions “chills the enforcement of federal law and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations,” the agency said.
“The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the privacy and safety of law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like New Jersey’s,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in a statement.
In February, a federal judge preliminarily blocked a similar law in California that barred federal agents from concealing their faces while working.
The lawsuit accused the state of forcing federal officers to “either put themselves at risk by unmasking and providing individual identification, at the cost of officer safety, the safety of their families, and operational effectiveness, or face legal consequences.”
“The public interest favors maintaining our system of federalism and the Constitutional lines drawn between Federal and State power and enabling the Federal Government to carry out its functions as mandated by the Constitution and Congress,” the lawsuit states.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement that the state law in question benefits both law enforcement and the public by “limiting the use of masking while including careful exceptions to protect law enforcement safety and operational needs.”
“To this day, the Federal Government still cannot explain when its officials need to mask or forgo identification in violation of this law, or why they actually need to do so, particularly given the serious safety concerns inherent in anonymized policing,” she said.
“New Jersey responded thoughtfully and carefully to these profound public safety concerns, and we look forward to responding in court.
“The Federal Government’s contrary approach will only undermine public trust and accountability, and make it easier for criminals to impersonate our officers.”
When the Department of Homeland Security temporarily deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to more than a dozen U.S. airports in late March, the officers were seen with masks, breaking a long-standing Trump administration policy.
