The Justice Department has sued Maryland and two of its largest counties, challenging rules that restrict masks and prescribe how law-enforcement officers must identify themselves while on duty.
The complaint names the state, Attorney General Anthony Brown, the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County. It argues that Maryland’s new statute and the county ordinances cannot be applied to federal officers because the Constitution prevents state and local governments from controlling how the federal government performs its work.
Maryland’s law took effect on October 1. It generally bars officers from wearing facial coverings and requires identification in specified circumstances. The counties adopted related measures. The federal government says those provisions expose agents to personal danger, interfere with sensitive operations and conflict with federal policies governing anonymity and protective equipment.
The allegations have not been adjudicated. Maryland and the counties may contest both the government’s description of the laws and its claim of sweeping federal immunity. Courts considering intergovernmental-immunity disputes usually examine whether a local rule regulates the United States directly or discriminates against it, rather than treating every incidental burden as unconstitutional.
The case therefore reaches beyond the politics surrounding masked immigration enforcement. It asks how far a state may use ordinary police-accountability rules when the officers carrying out arrests answer to Washington. The government seeks declaratory and injunctive relief preventing enforcement of the challenged provisions against federal personnel.
