Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slate of bills into law Saturday meant to protect Californians' privacy, civil rights and due process amid an unprecedented use of federal law enforcement in the state.
The laws were passed as tension grows between the state and federal government on immigration enforcement.
CalMatters reports the laws address the use of masked agents conducting operations without warrants; the targeting of courts, schools and hospitals for enforcement; and pressuring the state to share health data on immigrants.
The five bills that were signed included measures to ban law enforcement at all levels of government from wearing certain types of masks and require officers and agents to clearly display their agency's name and their own names or badge numbers.
The prohibition on masks would allow the victim of law enforcement battery, assault, false imprisonment, false arrest, or abuse of process to seek damages in civil court and expose the officer to criminal prosecution.