Vikram David Amar
Role at the time: Professor of law at the UC Davis School of Law, co-author with Illinois law professor Jason Mazzone of a column on Justia's Verdict site
Statement summary
In a column published on Justia's Verdict site on September 3, 2026, UC Davis law professor Vikram David Amar and University of Illinois law professor Jason Mazzone wrote of two bills the Legislature had just passed, the shock-glove ban for all local, state and federal officers and the Get the Feds Out Act on public employment of federal immigration officers, that they "are purely performative and will never be implemented." They wrote that, because no one argues ICE's use of shock gloves necessarily violates the federal Constitution, state laws that seek to regulate that practice are, "unless and until the federal government assents to state regulation, dead on arrival." In the same column they argued that a separate California law allowing damages claims against federal officers who violate the Constitution is constitutionally permissible, while acknowledging that courts will have to resolve the question.
“These bills are purely performative and will never be implemented. ... Because no one is arguing that ICE’s use of shock gloves necessarily violates the federal Constitution (just as no one argues the wearing of masks by ICE officers violates the Constitution), state laws that seek to regulate these ICE practices or discriminate against current or former ICE officers with respect to state employment are, unless and until the federal government assents to state regulation, dead on arrival.”