US EditionBill Banning Masked Law Enforcement Clears Key Legislative Vote, Will Continue to 'Move Fairly Quickly'
The Maryland Senate voted 8-3 to end local ICE enforcement agreements and ban officer face masks, citing community trust and public accountability concerns.
- On Wednesday, the Maryland State Senate advanced two bills that would discourage officers from wearing masks and end county ICE agreements after an 8-3 Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee vote.
- A video released on Monday showed cramped conditions at the ICE processing facility in Baltimore, prompting outrage from state Democrats, while about 100 Hagerstown-area residents protested last week.
- As amended, the first substitute bill bars most officers from wearing masks except for undercover officers and religious garments, removes liability for compliant officers, and lets detained people sue unlawfully masked officers.
- Passage requires approval from both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly and the governor of Maryland, but lawmakers said the opposite chamber likely won’t act until after the Feb. 17 house of origin cutoff, and one bill would end some 287 agreements by July 1.
- Supporters and critics both warned federal preemption and California litigation could limit impact, while Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D, said the bills set expectations amid Republican lawmakers and local sheriffs' safety concerns.
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'Do you support legislation that would prohibit masks being worn by law enforcement on duty?'
Last week Maryland senators heard testimony on a bill to prohibit face coverings for law enforcement officers in the state — including federal officers such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — while performing their duties in Maryland, except…
The Maryland Senate could be considering bills this week to ban agreements between local police and federal immigration authorities and to ban the wearing of masks on law enforcement officials, after the Senate Judicial Procedures Committee passed both on Tuesday. The committee’s vote took place less than a week after several hours of testimony on both bills, and the same day the House Judicial Committee held its own combative hearing on a suppl…
Krem2 News
King5 NewsBill banning masked law enforcement clears key legislative vote, will continue to 'move fairly quickly'
The measure passed on the Senate floor Wednesday. Lawmakers said it is unlikely to be taken up in the opposite chamber until February.
Maryland Matters
The Southern Maryland ChronicleSenate panel advances bills to ban agreements with ICE, face coverings for law enforcement
Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, leads discussion during a voting session Tuesday on bills to ban 287(g) agreements and prohibit face coverings for law enforcement officers. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)The Maryland Senate could be taking up bills as early as this week to ban agreements between local police and federal immigration authorities and to prohibit masks on law …
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