The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has recommended that former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison serve just one day in prison after a federal jury convicted him of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights by shooting into her window several times during the execution of a “no-knock” warrant at her home. Ms. Taylor’s subsequent death, from shots fired by other officers, was a rallying cry—along with the police killing of George Floyd—during the historic and widespread racial justice protests in 2020. Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Director of Strategic Initiatives Jin Hee Lee issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice’s sentencing recommendation:
“Today’s sentencing recommendation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which is the very agency charged with enforcing our civil rights laws, is a stunning miscarriage of justice and an insult to Breonna Taylor’s life and all who love her.
“Breonna Taylor should still be alive. Instead, she was killed in her own home in a hail of bullets in the middle of the night. And if the Justice Department gets its way, a police officer responsible for her death will spend just one day in prison after a federal jury found him criminally liable for violating her civil rights. According to the current administration, Breonna Taylor’s life was only worth one single day.
“This recommendation sends an appalling message: that police officers who kill Black people can expect leniency, impunity, and protection. At the same time, Black people are routinely sentenced to decades—sometimes for life—for far lesser offenses. This discriminatory double standard devalues Black life and facilitates the ongoing and widespread police violence against Black people that has plagued American law enforcement agencies since their inception.
“The Justice Department has already abandoned its findings of rampant constitutional violations by the Louisville Metro Police Department after an exhaustive investigation, consistent with President Trump’s executive order that prioritizes aggressive and militaristic policing while undermining police accountability. President Trump’s criminal justice agenda is unmistakably clear: shield police for their abuses, even in cases involving fatal police violence against innocent people, and abandon any pretense of equal justice under law.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
