The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong on Friday over a new state law that prohibits federal agents from wearing masks and requires them to display identification when operating in the state.
The law, passed this spring by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont, establishes “protected areas” — including schools, hospitals, social service agency facilities and houses of worship — where people cannot be arrested solely on the basis of a civil offense, such as an immigration violation. It prohibits law enforcement officers from wearing masks while on duty. It bans former federal law enforcement officers who were found to be guilty of misconduct or retired during an investigation from being hired by Connecticut state or local police, and it requires police officers to complete 480 hours of training before they can be hired by state agencies.
The federal government called the law “blatantly unconstitutional,” saying that the state has no authority to tell federal agents what they can and cannot do. The government argues that the law goes against the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says that when state and federal laws clash, federal laws override those of the states.
Attorney General Tong said in a statement Monday that the new law was “fully lawful and necessary to protect public safety.”
“We will vigorously defend the law,” Tong said.
The Justice Department has also filed lawsuits in other states — including New York, New Jersey and California — against similar laws. In California, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel struck down a law that requires federal officers to wear identification, saying that the law likely violated the Supremacy Clause.
In the lawsuit against Connecticut, Justice argues that requiring federal law enforcement to follow the state’s standards for use of force — which the federal government said were more restrictive than federal standards — would put officers in danger. The department said that having to contend with two different standards for the use of force could cause “hesitation, indecision, or second-guessing” at times when agents needed to make split-second decisions.
Furthermore, they said that since Connecticut does not allow use of force while executing search warrants or during brief detentions by police — known as “ Terry stops ” or “stop-and-frisk” — the law would discourage agents from criminal investigations.
Lawyers for the federal government also argued that requiring agents to remove their masks would put agents and their families in danger of harassment once their identities were known.
“Increasingly, members of the public photograph, film, and publish federal enforcement actions online and include the personal identities of federal officers for the sole purpose of intimidation and harassment. This content is directly used by members of organized crime and transnational criminal organizations in serious and potentially deadly ways,” the lawsuit reads.
In an interview with WTNH on Sunday, Lamont said he didn’t foresee a settlement in the lawsuit. He referenced the arrest of 18-year-old Esdras R. at Wilbur Cross High School last year and the recent detention of 19-year-old Rihan, a student at Cheshire High School who was detained by ICE and released in April.
Lamont referred to the DOJ’s lawsuit as a “moral issue.”
“What we’re trying to do is say, ‘ICE, stay away from our courthouses. Stay away from our schools. Stay away from our houses of worship. And (for) God’s sake, stay away from our voting areas,’” said Lamont.
Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who is the Republican candidate running against Lamont, said he voted against the law when it was brought to a vote in the state Senate. He called the law unconstitutional and said that it would precent law enforcement officers from arresting people who were in the country illegally and have been convicted of serious crimes.
“That’s wrong, and that’s putting ideology over public safety. We need common sense,” Fazio said.
Fazio said he’d like to see state and federal law enforcement working together when making arrests.
“I think if we had a collaborative approach where we prioritized taking the most hardened criminals off the streets then we would actually have a more stable and positive arrangement ultimately for everyone’s benefit in Connecticut,” Fazio said.
Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk and Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, said in a joint statement that they had expected the “purely partisan” Justice Department to file a lawsuit against what they called an “assertion of legitimate state power.”
“The DOJ’s assertions are baseless, and if there is still a higher court in America that has not already been defiled by this administration and which believes the Constitution still matters, Connecticut will win any appeal, because we are asserting our police and public safety authority which has been, and should be, reaffirmed as our right under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the lawmakers said. “We are seeking to impose no restrictions on federal law enforcement which are not also required of state and municipal law enforcement.”
Sen. Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said the law was “unconstitutional” and “anti-cop.”
“Unfortunately, Gov. Lamont and Democrats in the legislature care more about scoring political points than supporting working-class families and the law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to protect us,” Harding said.
This story was originally published by The Connecticut Mirror and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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