SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 747 into law Tuesday, Sept. 29, giving Californians a new avenue to file civil lawsuits against federal officials accused of violating their constitutional rights.
Known as the No Kings Act, the bill was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and grants Californians the right to file a civil lawsuit against any federal official for a violation of their constitutional rights.
Taking effect immediately upon Newsom’s signature, the bill comes in response to actions by the Trump administration as the Department of Homeland Security reports the highest number of ICE arrests yet, reaching more than 50,000 in August and averaging more than 1,600 arrests per day.
This pursuit has only escalated with ICE’s efforts to expand into airports across the country while continuously taking into custody people with valid work permits or pending asylum cases.
Wiener said, “ICE and Border Patrol have terrorized California communities with impunity. That ends today…When federal agents act lawlessly, they should be held accountable the same as any other lawbreaker. But for too long, a loophole in the law has shielded them from accountability. The No Kings Act provides long overdue accountability…”
Since the early 1970s, people who are harmed by the federal government have been able to seek justice through a right to sue created by the Supreme Court in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents (1971).
Pursuing such justice utilizing this right is known as using “Bivens actions.”
That is, until recent years, in which the Supreme Court has seriously limited Bivens actions, resulting in de facto immunity from justice for deliberate constitutional violations by federal officers.
The No Kings Act finally provides a defense against this loophole by allowing individuals to bring a lawsuit against any federal, state or local officer for monetary damages.
“Californians have watched in horror as ICE tore people like Marvin Godoy Calderon and George Retes from their homes or cars, and murdered Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in broad daylight,” Wiener said.
In only one year, federal agents have beaten and kidnapped Marvin Godoy Calderon, a janitor with a legal work permit; arrested a 5-year-old child, Liam Conejo Ramos, in an effort to lure his mother, who entered the United States legally, out of their home and has still not been returned; and shot and blinded Kaden Rummler and Britain Rodriquez while they were exercising their right to protest against ICE in Santa Ana, along with so many other violations not specifically included.
SB 747 eliminates the loophole that determined so many victims ineligible for justice via the loss of rights, privileges or immunities in the past.
Although signed Tuesday, the No Kings Act retroactively applies to any incident involving a violation beginning March 1, 2025. It aims to open the door for those victimized during the ICE raids of 2025, in addition to those caught in the agency’s expanding operations this year.
For example, SB 747 can be used to address First Amendment violations, including punishment for protected speech, the exercise of religion or freedom of the press, and the use of aggressive force against peaceful protests; Fourth Amendment violations, including unlawful searches of an individual’s home or seizures at checkpoints without a warrant or probable cause; or Fifth Amendment violations, including the unlawful targeting of individuals for punishment or tax audits based on discriminatory factors such as race, national origin or political identification.
California is the first, but not the last, as other states are already beginning to follow with their own proposals.
Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance, announced, “Today California has enshrined into law a basic principle of our democracy: no one is above the Constitution…No longer can federal agents — or any government official — violate our fundamental rights…Californians now have a path to hold them accountable.”
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