Posted: | July 28, 2020 09:45 AM |
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From: | Senator Timothy P. Kearney |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Breonna's Law |
On March 13, 2020, Louisville police executed a no-knock warrant at an apartment suspected of being tied to drug activity. They stormed the home of emergency room technician Breonna Taylor, and opening fire when her boyfriend shot at the unannounced intruders. Breonna was asleep in bed when Louisville police shot her eight times and killed her. To add insult to this egregious act, the suspect they were looking for had already been arrested. The risks and consequences of no-knock warrants are not just a problem in Kentucky. In 2019, the City of Pittsburgh settled a lawsuit that alleged SWAT officers recklessly broke into a family’s home, which was mistaken for a drug dealer’s apartment. It cost the city $80,000. A 2014 lawsuit, which claimed excessive force was used by police to enter a home and interrogate those within it, was settled by the city for $107,500. These are only a handful of examples of how so-called “no-knock warrants” have left innocent civilians dead or injured, and have left taxpayers to foot the bill for expensive legal settlements. According to a 2014 report by the American Civil Liberties Union, there are 20,000 no-knock warrants issued each year in the United States. This practice regularly occurs in low-income and disproportionately Black neighborhoods, leading frustrated communities to demand solutions after the death of Breonna Taylor. Legislation to ban no-knock warrants has been passed by the Louisville’s City Council and introduced on the federal level by U.S. Senator Rand Paul. It is time for Pennsylvania to lead the states and enact similar legislation. I am proposing “Breonna’s Law,” a bill that would specifically provide for the following:
I encourage my colleagues to join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. |
Introduced as SB1271