Justice Department sues St Paul and Portland over officer mask bans

The United States Department of Justice filed pair of federal lawsuits on Thursday against St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon, UPI reported. The legal action challenges local ordinances that ban federal law enforcement officers from wearing face masks and require them to identify themselves, according to reporting from UPI, KTTC, KEZI, the Star Tribune, KPTV, and Valley News Live. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Federal lawyers argued in court filings that the local restrictions are unconstitutional, UPI reported. According to UPI, the government maintains that local jurisdictions cannot regulate the federal government or its law enforcement officers under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. [1]

The actions in Minnesota and Oregon bring the total number of Justice Department legal challenges against state and local mask bans to 11, according to UPI. The targeted ordinances affect various federal personnel, including immigration agents. [1]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, federal lawyers filed a similar civil lawsuit against Denver over its mask ban for law enforcement officers, arguing that such restrictions compromise officer safety. [9]