Ninth Circuit Orders Injunction Against California ID Rule

A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel on October 14 ordered a preliminary injunction blocking California from enforcing its No Vigilantes Act identification requirement against federal officers, reversing a lower court’s refusal to halt the provision. The appellate ruling does not resolve the underlying lawsuit through a final judgment. The law, enacted in 2025, requires nonuniformed officers carrying out specified enforcement duties in California to display their agency and either a name or badge number. It applies to federal officers, and knowing violations can carry misdemeanor penalties under state law. The panel directed the district court to enter the injunction on remand. Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Mark Bennett said the federal government was certain to succeed on its constitutional challenge. The opinion reasoned that California could not directly regulate federal governmental functions without authorization from Congress, regardless of how much the requirement interfered with federal operations. The ruling rests on the Supremacy Clause and intergovernmental immunity, which limits states’ authority to regulate the federal government.