diff --git a/llama_toolchain/safety/shields/llama_guard.py b/llama_toolchain/safety/shields/llama_guard.py
index 94f111fb7..12aadc305 100644
--- a/llama_toolchain/safety/shields/llama_guard.py
+++ b/llama_toolchain/safety/shields/llama_guard.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-# Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
 # All rights reserved.
 #
 # This source code is licensed under the terms described in the LICENSE file in
@@ -16,8 +15,7 @@ from string import Template
 from typing import List, Optional
 
 import torch
-from llama_models.llama3_1.api.datatypes import Message
-from termcolor import cprint
+from llama_models.llama3_1.api.datatypes import Message, Role
 from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer
 
 from .base import CANNED_RESPONSE_TEXT, OnViolationAction, ShieldBase, ShieldResponse
@@ -112,7 +110,7 @@ class LlamaGuardShield(ShieldBase):
     def instance(
         on_violation_action=OnViolationAction.RAISE,
         model_dir: str = None,
-        excluded_categories: List[str] = None,
+        excluded_categories: List[str] = [],
         disable_input_check: bool = False,
         disable_output_check: bool = False,
     ) -> "LlamaGuardShield":
@@ -131,7 +129,7 @@ class LlamaGuardShield(ShieldBase):
         self,
         on_violation_action: OnViolationAction = OnViolationAction.RAISE,
         model_dir: str = None,
-        excluded_categories: List[str] = None,
+        excluded_categories: List[str] = [],
         disable_input_check: bool = False,
         disable_output_check: bool = False,
     ):
@@ -141,8 +139,6 @@ class LlamaGuardShield(ShieldBase):
 
         assert model_dir is not None, "Llama Guard model_dir is None"
 
-        if excluded_categories is None:
-            excluded_categories = []
         assert len(excluded_categories) == 0 or all(
             x in SAFETY_CATEGORIES_TO_CODE_MAP.values() for x in excluded_categories
         ), "Invalid categories in excluded categories. Expected format is ['S1', 'S2', ..]"
@@ -221,8 +217,7 @@ class LlamaGuardShield(ShieldBase):
         raise ValueError(f"Unexpected response: {response}")
 
     async def run(self, messages: List[Message]) -> ShieldResponse:
-
-        if self.disable_input_check and messages[-1].role == Role.user.value:
+        if  self.disable_input_check and messages[-1].role == Role.user.value:
             return ShieldResponse(
                 shield_type=BuiltinShield.llama_guard, is_violation=False
             )
@@ -254,39 +249,6 @@ class LlamaGuardShield(ShieldBase):
             response = self.tokenizer.decode(
                 generated_tokens[0], skip_special_tokens=True
             )
-            cprint(f" Llama Guard response {response}", color="magenta")
             response = response.strip() 
             shield_response = self.get_shield_response(response)
-            cprint(f"Final Llama Guard response {shield_response}", color="magenta")
             return shield_response
-
-
-
-
-
-        '''if  self.disable_input_check and messages[-1].role == "user":
-            return ShieldResponse(is_violation=False)
-        elif self.disable_output_check and messages[-1].role == "assistant":
-            return ShieldResponse(is_violation=False)
-        else:
-            prompt = self.build_prompt(messages)
-            llama_guard_input = {
-                "role": "user",
-                "content": prompt,
-            }
-            input_ids = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
-                [llama_guard_input], return_tensors="pt", tokenize=True
-            ).to(self.device)
-            prompt_len = input_ids.shape[1]
-            output = self.model.generate(
-                input_ids=input_ids,
-                max_new_tokens=50,
-                output_scores=True,
-                return_dict_in_generate=True,
-                pad_token_id=0
-            )
-            generated_tokens = output.sequences[:, prompt_len:]
-            response = self.tokenizer.decode(generated_tokens[0], skip_special_tokens=True)
-            response = response.strip()
-            shield_response = self.get_shield_response(response)
-            return shield_response'''