The facts
On October 14, 2026, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Jacqueline H. Nguyen, Mark J. Bennett, and Daniel P. Collins, opinion by Judge Bennett) reversed a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction and ordered the court to enjoin California, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Attorney General Rob Bonta from applying or enforcing Section 10 of the No Vigilantes Act against federal agencies and officers.
The law, S.B. 805, was enacted on September 20, 2025, in response to the United States's "broad immigration enforcement efforts," Section 10 required any non-uniformed federal law enforcement officer operating in California to "visibly display identification" showing the officer's agency and either a name or badge number while performing enforcement duties, with a willful and knowing violation punishable as a misdemeanor. The act exempted officers engaged in undercover operations, SWAT or tactical team work, protective details for elected officials and dignitaries, and officers wearing personal protective equipment that prevents display.
On November 17, 2025, the United States sued California, Newsom, and Bonta, arguing the law violated the Supremacy Clause by directly regulating federal operations. The district court declined to block Section 10. The 9th Circuit reversed, holding the United States was "certain to succeed" on the merits because Section 10 "explicitly overrides the federal government’s power to determine whether, how, and when to publicly identify its officers". The panel noted that, unlike traffic laws which "might require a full stop before a right turn" and regulate conduct any ordinary citizen could engage in, Section 10 applies exclusively to law enforcement officials performing law enforcement operations, and concluded "no set of circumstances exists under which the Act would be valid."
Our take
Gavin Newsom, you absolute fucking clown. Your entire legislative masterstroke, your big fuck-you to the feds, was just bench-slapped into the sun by three judges who saw it for the performative, unconstitutional bullshit it is. Your 'No Vigilantes Act' wasn't a law; it was a political theater prop that just got its ass handed to it in a ruling so definitive it should come with an apology note to the trees killed to print the original bill. The court didn't just reverse the lower court; they took your little name-tag mandate out back and put a bullet in its head, declaring the United States 'certain to succeed' - which is legalese for 'this is so fucking stupid it’s not even a close call.' You wasted over a year of the state's time and money on a law the court said has 'no set of circumstances' under which it would be valid. What a pathetic, useless dick-swinging contest you started and immediately lost. And the court's reasoning is the most delicious part. They compared your law to a traffic rule, but not favorably. They basically said, 'Look, Gavin, a stop sign tells *everyone* to stop. Your law only tells federal cops doing their jobs to wear a fucking name tag, which means you’re not regulating general conduct, you’re just trying to micromanage the federal government’s operations like a meddling HOA president on a power trip.' It’s a brutal, simple analogy that makes you and your attorney general look like complete amateurs who forgot the whole 'Supremacy Clause' thing they taught in Civics 101. The exemptions are where your cowardice really shines, you prick. Undercover ops? Exempt. SWAT teams? Exempt. Protective details for 'elected officials and dignitaries'? EXEMPT. So the guys guarding *your* precious ass don't have to play by your own rules, but some ICE agent doing his job gets a misdemeanor? That’s not transparency, you hypocritical cunt, that’s you carving out a special 'fuck you, unless it’s me' clause. You built a law specifically to harass federal officers you don't like, while making sure your own security detail never has to comply. The sheer, galling vanity of it is breathtaking. So here we are. Your big, bold stand for 'accountability' was just a legally brain-dead stunt that got laughed out of the 9th Circuit. They saw your vibes-based legislation for what it was: a direct, unconstitutional override of the federal government's power to run its own fucking operations. Now go back to doing whatever it is you do, and maybe next time try passing a law that can survive a basic constitutional sniff test, you useless grifter.
