The governor of Kentucky has signed into law a partial ban on no-knock warrants, a year after the police shooting of Breonna Taylor fueled anti-racism demonstrations in the US and around the world.
Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, signed Senate Bill 4 on Friday after it received bipartisan support in Kentucky’s state legislature, which is controlled by Republicans. The vote to approve the bill was held on 30 March, and passed on a 92-5 vote.
The law is not the total ban many protesters and some Democratic lawmakers had sought – a proposal that had been introduced as “Breonna’s Law” – but it also doesn’t prevent individual cities and towns from banning the warrants completely.
“This is meaningful change,” Beshear said. “It will save lives, and it will move us in the right direction. I know more needs to be done. I know the fight is not over.”
Members of the Taylor family stood behind the governor during the bill signing, at Louisville’s Kentucky Center for African American Heritage.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, shed tears as she accepted the pen the governor used to sign the measure.
“While it’s not the full legislation that they wanted in terms of a complete ban on no-knock warrants, they are satisfied that this is a start and a win in a deeply divided general assembly,” said the family’s attorney, Lonita Baker.
The death of Taylor, who was killed by police during a botched night-time raid of her home, sparked international outcry for social justice and police accountability. Activists often used the phrase “Say Her Name” in relation to the 26-year-old, who was an emergency medical technician in Louisville and studying to become a nurse.
The tactics employed by the Louisville Metro police department were the subject of widespread criticism after the unannounced raid. The police department’s Public Integrity Unit concluded that Detective Joshua Jaynes, who applied for the search warrant that resulted in Taylor’s home being raided, made false statements in order to have the warrant approved by the Jefferson circuit judge Mary Shaw.
The law does not amount to a total statewide ban – something sought by demonstrators and some Democratic lawmakers. No-knock warrants will be permitted when the crime under investigation “would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender”, with “clear and convincing evidence” present to support such a claim by law enforcement.
Warrants must now be executed between the hours of 6am and 10pm, with additional steps required before warrants can be obtained by officers. Judges are also required to leave legible signatures on approved warrant documentation.
An emergency medical technician must also be on the scene of the warrant’s execution, per the new law.
While a grand jury indicted the former Louisville officer Brett Hankison in September on three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting into a neighbor’s apartment, no officers were charged in connection with Taylor’s death. Detective Jaynes and Officer Myles Cosgrove, who was among the officers executing the warrant and is believed by federal ballistics experts to have fired the shot that killed Taylor, were subsequently fired.
A local ban on all no-knock warrants had been passed by the Louisville city council on 11 June 2020. The new legislation does not interfere with Louisville’s existing law.
Associated Press contributed to this report
