On March 13, Breonna Taylor was killed by police executing a "no knock" warrant and after nearly six months of protests, the Kentucky grand jury indicted Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment. Wanton endangerment, where Hankison shot through neighbor's window without a "clear line of site," is considered a Class D felony meaning Hankison will only serve between one and five years in prison. No one was charged for Taylor's death and the other two officers involved with the incident will not be charged according to the attorney general.
I was surprised by how slowly officials navigated this case. In George Floyd's case, which occurred in late May, the four officers were arrested and prosecuted within 2-3 weeks of Floyd's death. Both killings took place as the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining widespread traction through news and social media. Would public outrage play a role in why Minneapolis officials responded so quickly? Why didn't Louisville officials respond with the same urgency?
For the past few months, people have been scrutinizing the current policing systems and the number loopholes that allow police officers to be governed by essentially a completely different set of standards from the general public. Factors such as qualified immunity and strong police unions essentially allow police officers to get away with misconduct. In his segment on the The Daily Social Distancing Show, Trevor Noah asks "Who is winning this whole thing?" Is it the police officers? A particular political party? A particular race? The fact of the matter is, no one is winning. It's terrifying that our court systems, which are that are universally implemented to uphold justice, would allow for a death to be completely unpunished.
ABC News - Timeline: Inside the investigation of Breonna Taylor's killing and its aftermath
New York Times - What We Know About Breonna Taylor’s Case and Death
CNN - Police declare unlawful assembly after windows shattered during Breonna Taylor protests
YouTube: The Broken Policing System | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
1 comment:
Let me recommend Radly Balko on this subject:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/24/correcting-misinformation-about-breonna-taylor/
Balko explains much better than I why the Grand Jury non-decision is not the real story here. It's the no-knock warrant concept and the deference given to police by lazy judges:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/03/no-knock-warrant-breonna-taylor-was-illegal/
Even though the warrant should not have been issued in the first place, the police executing the warrant probably can't be held accountable for returning fire unless you find a way around the ex post facto problem. The police executing the warrant had legal authority to invade the premises; that can't be retroactively rescinded. The fact that the police who asked for the warrant were not the ones executing it is a particularly insidious complication.
Balko's "Rise of the Warrior Cop" is very well regarded although I have not read it myself.
The law professor types have a very different impression of this story than does the media at large. I believe that the local officials in KY were trying to hide the responsibility of the system, and their leadership of that system, by hiding behind the grand jury and making the charging decision appear to be have been a judgement call and not a fait accompli. Now there is a member of the grand jury crying foul, and other judges getting involved: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/28/us/breonna-taylor-grand-juror-motion-release-transcripts/index.html
If no shots had been fired at the police, the legal scenario would be entirely different and charges against the individual officers would have been much more appropriate and likely.
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