Archive • Date 2026-10-01 • Filed 2026-10-01T13:00:46Z • Case SH-20261001-001 • Severity 3/5

Self-Repealing Pause Sold as a Ban

Based on: California Bans ICE’s Favorite Shock Gloves • Mother Jones Politics • 2026-09-29T22:19:14Z

Mother Jones Politics reported Tuesday that California has banned ICE's favorite shock gloves, which it says human rights groups roundly condemned as "inherently abusive equipment that facilitates torture." The torture sentence the lead puts in the mouth of human rights groups belongs, in this outlet's prior piece, to analyst Yumna Rizvi. ICE's order is about 6,000 pairs for $16.7 million. AB 2760 bars those devices only until January 1, 2030, then repeals itself. The article gives the 2027 start. It omits the sunset. The statute also says a wearable electroshock device does not mean a taser energy weapon, so the glove pauses and the handheld cousin does not. A DHS spokesperson has already said the agency will not abide by any state ban. Newsom still called this stepping up where the federal government failed. Four priors sit on this outlet's docket, the latest from September 16. Verdict: a self-repealing pause sold as a seizure. Note: The taser exemption remains unlabeled, which is how a ban keeps its favorite cousin on payroll.

Findings

• AB 2760 remains in effect only until January 1, 2030, and "as of that date is repealed."
• The article states the ban takes effect in 2027 and does not state the repeal date.
• Yumna Rizvi of the Center for Victims of Torture supplied the torture sentence the lead assigns to human rights groups.
• The statute says a wearable electroshock device "does not mean a taser energy weapon, stun gun, or similar weapon."
• The article's subhead records that a DHS spokesperson said the agency "will not abide" by any state ban.

Records requested

• The January 1, 2030 repeal, placed next to the 2027 effective date.
• The statutory line stating a wearable electroshock device does not mean a taser energy weapon or stun gun.
• The name of the analyst who supplied "inherently abusive equipment that facilitates torture," in place of the plural human rights groups.

Receipts

Every claim below was re-verified against the linked page before filing.

• AB 2760 repeals itself on January 1, 2030 ("This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.")
• The same statute exempts tasers and stun guns ("does not mean a taser energy weapon, stun gun, or similar weapon")
• The torture phrase belongs to analyst Yumna Rizvi, not to human rights groups as a class ("Yumna Rizvi, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Victims of Torture, called the gloves")
• DHS had already said it would not abide by a state ban ("A DHS spokesperson has said the agency “will not abide” by any state ban.")

Hypocrisy: Gloves said to function similarly to tasers at a lower voltage are treated as torture equipment, while the statute on offer exempts taser energy weapons and stun guns by name.

Recommended sentence

Mother Jones shall reprint the headline with until January 1, 2030 in the same type size as Bans, and shall replace human rights groups in the lead with the name of the analyst who supplied the torture quotation, before the next donation box.