Amid President Donald Trump’s crackdowns on immigration and free speech, state Sen. Scott Wiener on Tuesday announced a bill that would make it easier for Californians to sue the federal government for violating their constitutional rights.
Wiener described Senate Bill 747, which he dubbed the “No Kings Act,” as a way for individuals to seek monetary damages from federal, state, and local officers who are found to have violated their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights. Those rights include free speech and protections against unlawful searches, unreasonable seizures at checkpoints without warrants or probable cause, excessive force during arrests, and the targeting of people based on race or political identity.
“Californians need a way to stand up to this administration’s unprecedented disregard for their constitutional rights,” Wiener said in a statement. “We will create a new path to justice through a clear legal remedy for willful violations of constitutional rights.”
Wiener and other Democrats have routinely accused the Trump administration of violating core tenets of the Constitution, most notably through immigration enforcement strategies and aggressive attacks on universities and courts. Wiener accused the U.S. Supreme Court of allowing the president to carry out such strategies with “unchecked power.”
Wiener said SB 747 will fill gaps in U.S. law that protect federal officers from legal challenges.
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“No one — not even a federal agent — is above the Constitution,” Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the left-leaning group Prosecutors Alliance Action, said in a statement. “The No Kings Act will enshrine this bedrock principle into California law.”
If signed into law, the bill will almost certainly face legal challenges. Wiener, who has written several bills during Trump’s terms in office to shore up protections for immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, said he is confident it could be defended in court.
The Trump administration is challenging a bill Wiener wrote this year, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, that bans law enforcement agents from covering their faces.
SB 747 gives Wiener an opportunity to pitch himself as a Trump antagonist in his bid to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi in Congress in 2026.
“As a lawless administration attempts to shred the Constitution, it’s time we give it some teeth,” Wiener said.