Public disputes over how power is divided between the federal government and the states, including whether a state may regulate federal officers, agencies or programs.
Published coverage on this page: 1 case · 1 statement. Statements are ordered newest first.
California's AB 2760 bars all law enforcement, including federal agents, from using electric shock gloves. Newsom and the author defend the ban. DHS and a federal prosecutor reject California's authority over federal agents. As of October 1, 2026, no court has ruled.
Published
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1 matching statement
Role at the time: Assemblymember (D-San Diego) and author of AB 2760, answering a reporter's question at a Capitol news conference
Response to this claim
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said on September 29, 2026 that California has no jurisdiction to regulate federal agents and that he had advised the Department of Homeland Security to disregard AB 2760.
“And we know that some things we probably cannot obviously regulate, but we have to start somewhere.”
Relative to the ban as applied to federal officers, Sharp-Collins keeps backing the bill while conceding that the state probably cannot regulate some things, in answer to a question about legal challenges. She does not say which parts of the bill she has in mind. The answer addresses the question of state power, not safety. We used Mixed or conditional because she combines support for going ahead with an acknowledgment that some of what the state tries to regulate may be out of reach. The closest competing label is Defended or excused, because she does not withdraw the bill's application to federal officers and says the state has to start somewhere.
Bilal A. "Bill" Essayli is a lawyer and Republican former member of the California State Assembly who is First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. He represented the 63rd Assembly District from December 2022 to April 2025, and earlier worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and Riverside and as a Riverside County deputy district attorney. He was interim and then acting U.S. Attorney for the district in 2025 before taking his current title on October 29, 2025.
1 case and 1 statement
Kevin R. Johnson is professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law, where he joined the faculty in 1989 and was dean from 2008 to 2024. His scholarship covers immigration law and civil rights.
1 case and 1 statement
Gavin Newsom is the Democratic governor of California. He previously held office as California lieutenant governor and mayor of San Francisco. Before entering public office, he worked in the hospitality business.
1 case and 1 statement
Jeff Niklaus is the founder and chief executive of Compliant Technologies, a veteran-owned company in the Lexington, Kentucky area that makes conductive distraction and de-escalation devices for law enforcement and corrections.
1 case and 1 statement
Vikram David Amar is the Daniel J. Dykstra Distinguished Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law and a constitutional law scholar. He was dean of the University of Illinois College of Law from 2015 to 2023 before returning to UC Davis. He clerked for Justice Harry Blackmun and writes a regular column for Justia's Verdict.
1 case and 2 statements
Jim Cooper is the Sheriff of Sacramento County, California, a post he has held since December 2022. A Democrat, he served in the California State Assembly from 2014 to 2022. Earlier he worked at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office and served on the Elk Grove City Council and as the city's mayor.
1 case and 1 statement
Jesse Arreguín is a Democratic member of the California State Senate who has represented the 7th District, which covers parts of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties, since December 2024. He was mayor of Berkeley from 2016 to 2024 and served on the Berkeley City Council before that.
1 case and 1 statement
Democratic candidate for U.S. House in California's 11th district.
1 case and 1 statement
LaShae Sharp-Collins is a Democratic member of the California State Assembly for the 79th District, which covers parts of southeastern San Diego, El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove. She took office on December 2, 2024, and holds a leadership post as Assistant Majority Leader for Policy and Research. Before her election she worked for the San Diego County Office of Education and taught Africana studies at San Diego State University.
1 case and 2 statements
Kelly Seyarto is a Republican member of the California State Senate for the 32nd District, in office since December 2022. A retired Los Angeles County Fire Department battalion chief, he served on the Murrieta City Council and as mayor of Murrieta, and represented the 67th Assembly District from 2020 to 2022.
1 case and 1 statement
