Gavin Newsom
Role at the time: Governor of California, in a news release from his office announcing the signed bills
Response to this claim
Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said on September 29, 2026 that California cannot dictate federal immigration policy but that, where federal immigration enforcement operates in California, the state can establish and enforce requirements governing law-enforcement practices, and it listed AB 2760's ban on shock gloves among the standards it set.
“California cannot dictate federal immigration policy. But where federal immigration enforcement operates within California, the state can establish and enforce state-law requirements governing state property, state resources, detention facilities, public records, law-enforcement practices and access to state-administered programs.”
The Governor's September 29, 2026 release announcing 21 signed bills. It lists a ban on shock gloves under 'Establish stronger standards for law-enforcement practices' and names AB 2760 by Assemblymember Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins. It quotes Newsom's statement and says the state can set requirements for law-enforcement practices and equipment used within California, including where they intersect with immigration enforcement.
Why we used this label
Relative to California's ban on shock gloves as applied to federal officers, the Governor's office says the state may set law-enforcement requirements where federal immigration enforcement operates in California and lists the ban among the standards it set. That defends the state's authority to set law-enforcement equipment standards where federal enforcement operates, and the release lists the ban among them, so we used Defended or excused. The release does not say in terms that the ban reaches federal officers. The release answers the question of state power and says nothing on whether the gloves are safe. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, because the same passage says the state cannot dictate federal immigration policy, but that limit concerns immigration policy and does not condition the office's support for the equipment ban.