California Ban on Private Prisons in State Held Unconstitutional

California legislation that bans all private prisons in the state impermissibly inserts the state into immigration regulation, which is the domain of the federal government, the en banc Ninth Circuit said Monday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement oversees the extensive detention of immigrants in California and almost exclusively uses privately owned detention facilities, the opinion by Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen said. California’s legislation requires ICE to entirely transform its approach to detention in California, Nguyen said.

The supremacy clause prohibits states from controlling the operations of the federal government, the court said. Although the state can regulate private contractors, in this ...