"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.

Was there any discussion of "systemic racism" during the debate?

I need to read the transcript, in part because I want to do a word search, but in part because I, like so many of you, became distracted when a fly landed on Mike Pence's hair and stayed there for quite a long while. I thought it would never leave. Pence has helmet hair, so zero chance of feeling the weight or movement of the fly, and the fly barely moved. We talked about whether the fly was stuck or dead and whether it symbolized racism, being a discordant black dot on highly structured white hair. 

Here's the transcript. I see, searching it, that Kamala Harris never said "racist" or "racism," let alone "systemic" or "systemically." But Mike Pence said "systemically racist," and it is in this portion of the debate, where I was distracted by the fly in Mike Pence's hair. Let's work through this carefully, beginning with the question framed by the moderator, Susan Page. I've made some corrections to the transcript, which I'll note with boldface.

In March, Breonna Taylor, a 26 year old emergency room technician in Louisville was shot and killed after police officers executing a search warrant in a narcotics investigation, broke into her apartment. The police said they identified themselves. Taylor’s boyfriend said he didn’t hear them do that. He used a gun registered to him to fire a shot, which wounded an officer. The officers then fired more than 20 rounds into the apartment. They say they were acting in self-defense. None of them have been indicted in connection with her death. Senator Harris, in the case of Breonna Taylor was justice done?...

Notice that Page did not mention race at all. Taylor was identified by her age, her occupation, and her city. The question relating to indictment should be right in the zone where former prosecutor Kamala Harris can display the most expertise. Will she show respect for the process? Will she accuse the grand jury of racism and perhaps explain that white people carry racism into their decision-making whether they realize it or not? That is, will she demonstrate a belief in systemic racism or "implicit bias" and invite us to understand and share the belief in an enlightened new way (which is, I think, what the Black Lives Matter movement would like us to do)?

Harris answers:

"A police tactic meant to keep officers safer — raiding homes late at night, giving occupants little or no warning — can conflict with 'castle doctrine' laws meant to keep homeowners safe by giving them leeway to use deadly force against intruders."

"In this case, Taylor’s boyfriend saw the police and thought they were intruders. He says he fired in self-defense. The police fired back, in self-defense against his self-defense. The result, as in other cases, was a tragedy that the law didn’t prevent and won’t punish.... Even after they fired back — missing Walker but striking Taylor, who was standing nearby — Walker said he did not know they were the police. 'I don’t know what is happening,' Walker said in a call he made to 911. 'Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend.'.... Under Kentucky’s version of the castle doctrine... residents are allowed to use defensive force against someone 'forcibly entering' a dwelling...."

From "A woman killed. An officer shot. And no one legally responsible" by David Fahrenthold (WaPo).

The method of entering a home at night is presented as necessary to prevent people with drugs from destroying the evidence. From the comments at WaPo: "Rabid, over-enthusiastic drug enforcement. People die over nothing. Legalize and then focus on treatment."