Overview
- The Justice Department filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, naming the City of Philadelphia, Mayor Cherelle Parker, District Attorney Larry Krasner and City Solicitor Renee Garcia as defendants.
- Bill No. 260060, part of a seven-bill 'ICE Out' package, makes it a crime for officers to conceal identifying badges, requires visible identification and marked vehicles, and is scheduled to take effect in early July unless the court intervenes.
- DOJ says the ordinance violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause because it attempts to criminally regulate how federal officers carry out their duties and it argues the rule would expose officers to doxxing, harassment and violence that could chill federal enforcement.
- City legal officials warned the mayor the mask and identifier ban posed legal and operational problems, Mayor Parker withheld her signature and District Attorney Krasner publicly threatened to arrest federal agents who violate the law.
- The suit is part of a wider Civil Division effort challenging similar local rules nationwide, and courts — including a recent Ninth Circuit ruling that upheld an injunction on a comparable California law — will play a key role in deciding whether cities may set these limits.