There’s a part of California’s new sanctuary law that I’m confused about:
Now I recognize that under the 10th amendment, the federal government cannot compel states to enforce federal law. The confusing part is California’s prohibition on individual cops and officials cooperating with the Feds. Can a state or locality actually take any legal or job action against individuals who work with the feds? Wouldn’t protections that apply to private sector workers who cooperate with the government apply to state workers as well?
To use an example, let’s say a police officer catches a mugger and while booking him finds out he’s here illegally. So he contacts ICE. Can he be prosecuted or fired? Has this ever been tested in court?
It can’t have been tested in court as it doesn’t take effect until January. I can’t see how the law would prohibit police officers from calling ICE on their own time on their own phones. I suppose calling while on duty using a department phone might be interpreted to be in violation.
Think of it as a variation of “you can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride”… Sure, after a few yeas of fighting in court and racking up legal bills, an officer might win. But meanwhile, no job, no income, and of course, the (personal) legal liability of a lawsuit from the affected person or their family - since he did violate a law and state policy.
There would be a hundred groups that would fund any case. Just as now there are a hundred groups funding various test cases on all sides of every issue.
The legal answer to this is likely to be both pretty technical, contested, and highly politicized so it’s hard to say how we could answer it for sure at this point.
But what if we consider analogous situations?
Could a police officer be fired for doing police work that isn’t part of his assigned duties? I think the answer to this is yes. If a homicide detective decides he wants to write parking tickets, or a beat cop decides to stake out a suspected drug dealer, those seem like actions that could be worthy of some kind of official reprimand and potentially termination. And presumably there aren’t even laws against those actions (I’m guessing. Maybe there are?)
In regards to court tests, California’s law isn’t the only law of it’s kind, so I was wondering if officers anywhere else have been fired or prosecuted. I’m also guessing that some actions can be prohibited for certain, like asking people you stop their immigration status. But my suspicion is that once you actually involve the feds, then you might be entering the realm of protected behavior. I’d be pretty surprised if states can PROHIBIT compliance with federal laws and requests from federal agents and actually punish it. But maybe they can, so I’d be interested if anyone has actually been punished in a sanctuary city. I guess there’s also the police unions to consider. If police can murder people on film I suppose they can beat a “cooperating with ICE agents” charge pretty easily.
That’s not really analogous though because it’s not working with the federal government. That’s just doing more local law enforcement that you aren’t authorized to do. I’m thinking of cooperation with federal agents or informing federal agents. Could this fall under whistleblower protections?
The legal dodge is in the phrase “(Prohibit agencies from) using either personnel or funds”. They’re saying you can’t use state resources (which they do have full authority over) for these activities.
As for precedent, I’d guess this was covered back in the civil rights era when some states were fighting to keep segregation.
One thing you learn if you read court rulings about current/hot topics is that: 1. almost every dodge or loophole has been addressed (sometimes by saying “it’s the legislatures job to fix this”) and 2. Judges can and do interpret the intent as well as the words of the law.
No analogy is perfect, but generally employers get to decide how you spend your time when on the clock/in uniform/at your place of employment. So, if they say your duties don’t include reporting info to the feds, then they don’t include that. Just like they don’t include writing parking tickets or mowing lawns or planning weddings.
I’m assuming that if an officer wanted to call in tips to the feds on his own time, that would be protected.