Two civil rights organizations may sue Modesto because its elected leaders on Tuesday refused to repeal an ordinance prohibiting people at protests from wearing masks.
Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and the First Amendment Coalition told The Modesto Focus they’re considering legal action against the city.
Modesto’s anti-face coverings law is among only three adopted by cities in California. The others are Oakland and Lomita, but authorities there have not used local laws to arrest protesters like Modesto police did during a June 14 ICE Out rally. Charges against all five were dismissed at their first court proceeding.
Since June, many audience members at city council meetings have implored leaders to take up the issue. Instead, officials referred the matter to the Community Police Review Board, whose members recommended repealing the ordinance and a poll to be conducted gauging residents’ opinions. A slim majority of 400 people surveyed said they support keeping the ordinance.
Including Tuesday, audience speakers since June have denounced the ordinance 135 times, while 10 have defended it.
“We’re out there naked and fully exposed, while police show up in full body armor,” Gavin Bruce said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Terhesa Gamboa said she witnessed water bottles thrown at a 2022 protest. “The mask mandate needs to stay in place to deter this kind of activity and keep us safe,” she said.
Modesto council votes without comment
In contrast to the spirited public debate spanning many hours, council members shared no thoughts before voting unanimously Tuesday to retain the ordinance with minor revisions.
Some opponents left the meeting chamber chanting, “No justice, no peace, no fascist police!”
In addition to banning face coverings at public gatherings, the ordinance also prohibits large sticks, glass or metal water bottles, umbrellas with pointy ends, hardshell bicycle and motorcycle helmets and tactical gear like vests. Revisions clarify that medical masks, costume masks and religious garb are permitted.
The ACLU and FAC had threatened legal action in previous warnings to Modesto City Hall, and sent a new letter Tuesday. The revisions will force officers to treat people differently based on police perceptions, “a condition that the First Amendment abhors,” the letter says.
Both groups said they may ask courts to force the city to repeal the ordinance. That could make Modesto a test case once again in the struggle between civil rights and public safety.
Modesto has poor record defending civil rights suits
The city and Stanislaus County spent millions of dollars defending against lawsuits filed in 2004 alleging that biased policies caused substandard public amenities that harmed predominantly Latino neighborhoods in south and west Modesto. Sidewalks and storm drains still remain spotty there despite county leaders spending millions more since on improvements.
Another 2004 lawsuit against Modesto had statewide impact, changing the composition of many councils and boards throughout California. Modesto fought that district elections case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost, costing taxpayers millions more when justices agreed that voters have a right to elect people who look and think more like they do.
The case was used by progressive attorneys to compel cities and school districts into compliance, and now more elected officials on all levels better reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of their communities up and down the entire state.
Over the years, some 18 states have used varying rationales for mask bans. Decades ago, such bans gave law enforcement a tool against masked Ku Klux Klan marchers. California reversed its statewide mask ban after authorities used it in 1978 to intimidate Iranian nationals protesting against the shah of Iran.
More recently during the COVID pandemic some conservative states moved to outlaw masks that then-health officials under the Biden administration said were needed to keep people safe in public.
In response to raids targeting immigrants, California leaders in September adopted legislation that will ban most law enforcement officers from concealing their identities as of Jan. 1. Los Angeles County supervisors this week passed a similar ordinance addressing ICE agents in unincorporated parts of that county.
Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact him at garth@cvlocaljournalism.org.