Kentucky lawmakers reintroduce the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act

Breonna Taylor, a Louisville resident was fatally shot by police on March 13, 2020, nearly four years after the tragedy, United States Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is working to pass national legislation that would prohibit law enforcement from performing no-knock search warrants.

Paul filed the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act in 2020 and he and U.S. Representative Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky reintroduced the Act on Monday at a press conference where Taylor’s mother was also in attendance.

In 2020, officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department performed a no-knock search warrant on Taylor’s residence at night. Officers conducted the search in relation to an investigation on Taylor’s partner at the time, Kenneth Walker.

When officers entered the home Walker reportedly believed they were burglars and shot a firearm at them which was returned by law enforcement. In the gunfire Taylor was shot and died from her injuries.

Since Taylor’s death, the Kentucky General Assembly and the LMPD have passed laws restricting or banning the use of no-knock warrants. Along with Kentucky 29 other states have legislation restricting no-knock warrants, but McGarvey says many states still perform no-knock warrants which have resulted in harm to both citizens and law enforcement.

Paul says he believes if laws restricting no-knock warrants were established prior to Taylor’s death then she would still be alive today. Now working with McGarvey, Paul says he hopes they can ensure that a tragedy like Taylor’s death will not happen again.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer says she too wants to ensure that a tragedy like the one that happened to her daughter does not happen again.

According to Paul’s website, the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act would require federal law enforcement officers to provide notice of their authority and purpose before they execute a warrant, and the Act would require the same of any state or local law enforcement agency that receives federal funds.