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The Congressional Black Caucus is endorsing a bill that would ban no-knock warrants nationwide. After the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020, the state of Kentucky passed restrictions on no-knock warrants, yet no measure has been passed on the federal level.
What is the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act?
The bill is being advocated by Congressman Morgan McGarvey, Senators Rand Paul and Cory Booker and Representatives Yvette D. Clarke and Jasmine Crockett. It was originally introduced to Congress in 2024 and is now being pushed by members of the CBC.
The bill would prohibit federal, state and local law enforcement from conducting no-knock warrants, which currently allows them to enter a property without announcing their presence.
“The Congressional Black Caucus is calling on our colleagues to join our coalition and pass the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act to prohibit federal law enforcement and state and local police departments that receive federal funding from executing these dangerous no-knock warrants,” the CBC said in a statement.
The bill is inspired by Breonna Taylor, who died on March 13, 2020, after Louisville police officers entered her home and fatally shot her. A warrant was wrongfully obtained and included misleading statements, according to The Grio. The incident helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020 at the time, which addressed violence conducted by law enforcement against Black people.
“This tragedy should never have occurred, and Breonna Taylor should still be with us today. We continue to uplift the voice of her mother, Tamika Palmer, as she continues to fight for justice,” the CBC added. “What happened to Breonna Taylor was a profound failure of our justice system — one that we have a moral responsibility to correct. In the years since her murder, the need to confront the issue of no-knock warrants has only intensified.”
“No American should fear that at any moment, law enforcement could enter their home unannounced. And no parent like Tamika Palmer should be forced to endure the grief of losing her child to a system that failed her,” the statement also read.
Previous efforts to ban federal no-knock warrants have failed
No-knock warrants were restricted in Kentucky, where Taylor was killed, via a bipartisan bill passed by Gov. Andy Beshear in 2021. No restrictions yet exist on the federal level, which is what the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act would change.
In 2021, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced but stalled in Congress. This led to former President Joe Biden issuing an executive order with a limited scope that placed restrictions on no-knock warrants for federal officers, according to The Grio.
“No law can right that wrong, but we can honor her memory by fighting for the justice she was never given,” McGarvey said in a statement, per TheGrio. “An homage to the heroic life Breonna lived as an EMT, this bill will save countless lives by banning the dangerous and deadly use of no-knock warrants nationwide.”
