Althouse: "The Justice Department’s civil rights chief has asked a federal judge to sentence a Louisville police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor to one day in jail..."

July 17, 2025

"The Justice Department’s civil rights chief has asked a federal judge to sentence a Louisville police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor to one day in jail..."

"... a stunning reversal of Biden-era efforts to address racial disparities in local law enforcement. Last year, a federal jury in Kentucky convicted Brett Hankison, the officer, of one count of violating Ms. Taylor’s civil rights by discharging several shots through Ms. Taylor’s window during a drug raid that went awry. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced next week...."

The NYT reports.

15 comments:

Krumhorn said...: The whole thing from start to finish was a clusterfk. But when the boyfriend came out shooting, then it was on.

- Krumhorn; 7/17/25, 2:32 PM
Aggie said...: "...Mr. Hankison, who is white, was the only officer to be charged for his actions during the botched operation that prompted of protests across the country. His shots did not kill Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who worked as an emergency room technician. Two other officers, also white, fired the fatal shots, but neither was charged...."

Aside from the piss-poor grammar and editing, there's a missed opportunity to explain why one white officer was convicted for firing shots that weren't fatal, but other officers that fired the fatal shots weren't even charged, much less, convicted.

Too many deadly mistakes and outright crimes have been committed using 'No-Knock' warrants, enough to where they should be eliminated procedurally or even banned by law.; 7/17/25, 2:42 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Diddle with drug dealers, expect drug dealer drama.; 7/17/25, 2:44 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Left-wing groups and police unions dearly desire law-enforcement brutality and idiocy to be viewed through a racial lens, but the truth is it’s an equal-opportunity American affliction.; 7/17/25, 3:16 PM
n.n said...: DEIsm? Maybe, baby. Or is it a fetus... feature?; 7/17/25, 3:30 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: These Federal Civil Rights trials should be unconstitional. They're just getting aournd "Double Jeopordy" so people the elite don't like can get put in jail or punished.; 7/17/25, 3:34 PM
Political Junkie said...: Yay. One day it is.; 7/17/25, 4:39 PM
Readering said...: There are federal sentencing guidelines to be followed by the judge.; 7/17/25, 4:52 PM
Mary Beth said...: Aside from the piss-poor grammar and editing, there's a missed opportunity to explain why one white officer was convicted for firing shots that weren't fatal, but other officers that fired the fatal shots weren't even charged, much less, convicted.

If I remember correctly, it's because the other officers were inside getting shot at while this officer was outside in the parking lot, firing blindly into a window and sliding door (both were covered, obscuring his view into the apartment).; 7/17/25, 5:08 PM
Christopher B said...: The other reason they weren't charged is because this was, IIRC, not a no-knock raid. The warrant authorized such an entry but the police claim to have identified themselves anyway. There's also a small cottage industry making sure that Taylor is portrayed as a 'wrong time wrong place' victim rather than being the primary target of the warrant because officers suspected she was holding cash or drugs in her apartment for her incarcerated drug dealer boyfriend. The guy who started shooting was not the target of the warrant.; 7/17/25, 5:37 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This trial was stupidly brought by stupid people in the Biden Administration. I suspect the judge won't follow the recommendation of the prosecutors and it will necessitate Trump to pardon this poor unlucky cop who drew the short straw to be the scapegoat.; 7/17/25, 6:10 PM
Michael said...: I'm OK with the charge and some prison time. He was a cop. We gave him power to shoot. But it was reckless to shoot into the building without clear view of the target.

He will be punished, as he should. But the real criminals higher up the ladder will go free.; 7/17/25, 7:27 PM
john mosby said...: I read the government's sentencing memo. This cop was acquitted at state level; then his first federal trial hung; then Biden finally got a conviction - on November 2, 2024. The sentencing calculation done by US Pretrial Services indicated a range STARTING at 176 months. Even the new DOJ's more charitable calculation was still in double digits. There are some nice lines in the memo:

"After a recent review of many § 242 cases, counsel is unaware of another prosecution in which a police officer has been charged with depriving the rights of another person under the Fourth Amendment for returning fire and not injuring anyone."

"But for a jury verdict in this case the government might proceed differently."

So it seems like the new Admin's policy is not to try to directly reverse every Biden miscarriage of justice, but to give the defendants soft landings? And they have commutation in their back pocket if the court doesn't agree?

And maybe to coopt the judges into actually doing justice. This judge is a 2018 Trump appointee who went to American U Law School, so perhaps open to reason.

RR
JSM; 7/17/25, 7:31 PM
Big Mike said...: But when the boyfriend came out shooting, then it was on.

Hard to blame the boyfriend — how does one distinguish a no knock raid from a violent home invasion?; 7/17/25, 11:03 PM
Big Mike said...: I want to add, that I’d be in favor of cancelling all no knock raids. I’m thinking of the baby burned in its cradle several years ago by a “flash-bang” thrown by police during a botched no knock raid.; 7/17/25, 11:07 PM