By Joe Mathews

The existence of such a path may surprise today’s Californians. That’s because our police insist that they are powerless to challenge unlawful actions or abuses by federal agents. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell advised officers that, when called to a scene where citizens allege federal abuses, all they can do is verify the identities of federal agents.

In this position, McDonnell and police are not just wrong — they are violating their oaths to enforce state and local laws. The Clifton case makes this plain.

Establishing malice and criminal intent is a high bar, but Californians eager to pursue Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel are revisiting the Clifton standard. In a June YouGov poll, commissioned by the Independent California Institute, 72% of respondents said police should arrest federal immigration officials who “act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law.”

Recent federal abuses, captured on video, would seem to meet the Clifton test for prosecution. A federal agent’s repeated punching of a Santa Ana landscaper. A retaliatory attack by federal agents, using explosives, on the Huntington Park home of U.S. citizens.

Syndicated in newspapers across California. Read the full column in the San Francisco Chronicle.