OLYMPIA, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
A bill that would ban police officers and federal agents from wearing masks while on duty is now headed to the governor’s desk.
The measure cleared the state House yesterday in a 56-37 vote, putting it one signature away from becoming law.
“This policy is about accountability,” Democrat Representative Julio Cortez, who voted yes on the bill, said. “It affirms a simple principle that when law enforcement officers are exercising their authority in public-facing duties, that public has the right to know who is policing them.”
Governor Bob Ferguson is expected to sign the bill into law soon
Before Tuesday’s House vote, Democrats described emotional scenes of immigrants frightened by masked ICE agents, as well as Americans who were stopped, detained, or arrested, and said they were afraid because they could not identify the officers involved.
“We have people picked up in unmarked cars, masked faces in the middle of the night, thrown into a van and disappearing, and we don’t know where they’re at,” Democrat Representative Lilian Ortiz-Self said. “I believe we can protect our law enforcement officers. I will fight for that always, but I also believe, like every public servant, that we can hold them accountable and that we can have transparency to protect every person’s constitutional rights.”
Democrat Dave Paul teared up before he voted yes.
“I have spoken to so many in our community that are affected by this, and I’ve spoken to so many law enforcement officials who support this law, who support this bill,” Paul explained. “They are trying to work to make sure that everyone in our community feels safe. And … I don’t feel safe if somebody who is masked is trying to come into my house or trying to arrest me.”
That sentiment on the House floor was met by Republican representatives who shared that many federal agents and their families have received death threats.
“I’ve also seen the doxing of the law enforcement officers, and I’ve seen the PTSD from having their families threatened and not wanting to go into public,” Republican Matt Marshall said. “But really, aside from all of that, my largest concern with this policy is that I’m not sure when we apply this to the Office of Sheriff, that this even will pass constitutional muster here in the state of Washington.”
Marshall and other Republicans refer to Article 11 of the State Constitution, which protects the core functions of independently elected sheriffs from being reassigned to other elected or state actors. Basically, it prohibits lawmakers from directly intervening in many sheriffs’ policy decisions, which Republicans argue extends to deputies’ use of masks.
Several other Republicans warned that passing the bill was for nothing because it would not stand up to the U.S. Constitution.
“This bill makes a do-nothing political statement at the expense of the safety and privacy of our law enforcement officers,” said Republican Representative Jeremie Dufault before voting no on the bill. “Do nothing… because the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution prohibits state governments from interfering in the enforcement of federal law.”
Dufault also, in a roundabout way, called Democrats hypocrites for passing mandatory mask rules when it came to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This bill makes an arbitrary distinction between good masks and bad masks,” Dufault explained. “Under the bill, law enforcement officers can wear COVID masks, the kind of mask that this state government mandated that public servants, including us, wear for many months, even over a year… What’s not allowed under the bill are masks that would protect the safety and the privacy of our law enforcement officers. That is unacceptable to me, and I hope it’s unacceptable to you as well.”
Many critics of the bill believe it could face legal challenges in federal court after becoming law.
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