New hearing ordered over California ban on private prisons
A federal appeals court has agreed to reconsider a ruling that rejected California’s first-in-the-nation ban on for-profit private prisons and immigration detention facilities
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to reconsider a ruling that rejected the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on for-profit private prisons and immigration detention facilities.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new hearing before an 11-judge panel, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Last October, a three-judge appellate panel kept in place a key piece of the world’s largest detention system for immigrants — despite a 2019 state law aimed at phasing out privately-run immigration jails in California by 2028. The law was passed as one of numerous efforts by California Democrats to limit the state’s cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
However, the appellate panel ruled 2-1 that the state law interferes with the federal government’s authority. Tuesday's decision set aside that ruling and ordered a new hearing before a larger panel that will include Chief Judge Mary Murguia.
Murguia cast the dissenting vote last year. She said the law was prompted by reports of “substandard conditions, inadequate medical care, sexual assaults and deaths in for-profit facilities.”
Murguia was appointed by President Barack Obama while the other two members of the appellate panel were appointed by President Donald Trump.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden also has opposed the law on constitutional grounds, although Biden signed an executive order last year to end the government's use of such prisons in the future.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.