After spending nearly $1 million in a legal fight to defend its controversial mask ban at protests, the city of Modesto announced this week it will drop the provision and settle the costly lawsuit brought by advocates who argued it was unconstitutional.
The Modesto City Council made the decision during closed session Tuesday and plans to discuss changes to the ordinance at a special public meeting Monday afternoon, according to the city’s statement.
In the agenda for the meeting the city reports the case cost taxpayers $824,613 in legal fees.
“The City Council would like to report out that a settlement in principle has been reached regarding the matter,” Jose M. Sanchez, the city attorney, said at Tuesday’s city council meeting. “The amendments to be considered will include removal of the face covering provision, adding an exemption allowing journalists to wear protective equipment while covering a public assembly, and modifying the helmet restrictions.”
The minor change to the helmet prohibition is to allow “ordinary bicycle helmets” for protesters. But other restrictions, such as banning baseball bats, bladed devices, and glass bottles or metal containers, will remain in place, according to the city’s drafted ordinance.
The settlement agreement also comes with a payment of opposing attorney fees of $366,455, meaning Modesto will cover the legal costs of American Civil Liberties Union, who represented the plaintiffs.
To cover its own legal costs, the city council is expected to approve a third increase of an additional $108,658 in attorney fees on Monday, above the initial $349,500 approved for the case. That brings the total amount paid to its own special counsel, Deborah Fox of Meyers Nave, to nearly $460,000 for defending the ordinance.
The months-long lawsuit arose after five people with face coverings were taken away in handcuffs at an ICE Out protest in June 2025. Over the past year and a half, the community and advocacy groups have pushed the city to rescind the mandate, which officials claimed to be in the interest of public safety.
A Modesto Focus analysis found that during public comment in council meetings, audience members decried the mask ban 148 times from July 2025 through April this year, while only 10 voiced support.
“The settlement protects free speech by ensuring that people can protest peacefully, and that members of the press can cover protests, which is so fundamental,” said Chessie Thacher, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU, which filed the suit. “We’re really glad that this is happening, and it’s just a shame that it took so long for the city to get there.”
The ACLU sued the city in March on behalf of the plaintiffs, Pacific Media Workers Guild and three residents, and by the end of June, they had scored a preliminary victory when a federal judge blocked parts of the ordinance. The ruling found the restrictions were not specifically tailored to address the city’s public safety concerns and “violated constitutional protections under both federal and state law,” according to city documents.
After the preliminary injunction, the city filed an appeal, but is now opting to dismiss it, according to Thacher.
Policy affects journalists, lawsuit claims
The ACLU has argued that the city’s mask ban at public assemblies was unworkable and unconstitutional. Thacher described the ban on safety gear for journalists as “a real disservice to the brave reporters who go out there to cover protests in public assemblies.”
Annie Sciacca, local president of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, said the provision could jeopardize reporter safety.
“I’ve been a reporter out covering the protests, sometimes things go a little sideways,” she said. “As journalists, we know over the years that it’s a good idea to bring some safety gear, a mask, some goggles, maybe a helmet, if things are getting thrown around. So we saw an issue with this ordinance.”
The Pacific Media Workers Guild represents more than 1,000 newspaper and communications workers in California and Hawaii, including reporters at The Modesto Focus and its parent nonprofit the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.
Ginny LaRoe, advocacy director of the First Amendment Coalition, a California nonprofit advocating for press rights and open government, said the settlement “is a great outcome for local journalists and the community they serve.”
“What this means is the local journalists who serve Modesto will be able to do the important work of covering rallies, protests and other public assemblies on the ground without risking arrest if they find themselves needing to use commonly issued personal protective gear to stay safe,” LaRoe said. “It’s unfortunate for taxpayers that the city spent so much money and resources fighting this for so long.”
Modesto enacted its mask-ban ordinance in 2019 with the intent to deter individuals from covering their faces to “remain anonymous and in order to commit criminal acts without the fear of accountability,” according to the city’s document.
First arrests at anti-Trump/ICE rally
The police never used the ordinance until arresting five residents last year at an anti-deportation protest attended by many people of color. The same day, a separate, much larger No Kings protest attended largely by white people produced no arrests, The Modesto Focus reported.
Two California cities with similar ordinances, Oakland and Lomita, have not made any arrests related to their policies, The Modesto Focus previously reported. The criminal charges against the five residents arrested in Modesto were dropped before their first court appearances.
Thacher, the ACLU attorney, said protesters have a fundamental right to peacefully protest under the First Amendment, even if they cover their faces.
“The mask ban burdened that, and people were being chilled from coming out to exercise their rights for no good reason, so we were challenging the mask ban for that purpose,” Thacher said. “And the city responded by only addressing those provisions in the settlement.”
ACLU provided pro bono legal services to plaintiffs, Thacher said. The city’s payment of attorney fees is important because it serves as a deterrent to government officials, she said.
The plaintiffs are not seeking additional damages from the city, Thacher added.
“They sought to have the basics of First Amendment law upheld,” she said. “Angel Flores, one of the first people arrested, he didn’t want to go home and tell his son (he has been arrested) when something unjust had happened to him at a protest.”
Leqi Zhong is the First Amendment reporter for the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact her at leqi@cvlocaljournalism.org.