Criminal Justice Reform: Virginia Bans No-Knock Warrants by Passing “Breonna’s Law”
By Cynthia Hernandez
In a victory for civil rights activists and the late Breonna Taylor, Virginia has become the third state in the country to ban no-knock search warrants by law enforcement. No-knock search warrants, which are legal in most states, allow police officers to burst into a residence or business without having to announce their presence or purpose prior to entering the occupant’s property.
Police departments across the nation have argued in favor of the use of no-knock warrants because they believe they allow them to preserve evidence and maximize officer safety. However, no-knock warrants have often resulted in the destruction of property and the use of deadly force against occupants by the police. This is precisely what occurred on March 13, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky, when Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old African American woman and full-time ER technician, was fatally shot by plainclothes officers who were executing a no-knock search warrant in her apartment. That night, as the officers forced themselves into Taylor’s apartment shortly after midnight, her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, asked who was present from Taylor’s bedroom. When he heard no response, he believed there were intruders in the apartment. Walker then fired one warning shot in the officers’ direction injuring one of the officers. The officers proceeded to fire thirty-two shots, six–although some reports say up to eight–of which struck Taylor and killed her. Taylor was unarmed, and her apartment was never searched.
Taylor’s death sparked nationwide protests which called for a ban on no-knock warrants. Now, “Breonna’s Law” requires police in Virginia to announce their presence before intruding into a residence or business to execute a search warrant. Additionally, search warrants may only be executed during the daylight hours unless law enforcement can show a judge or magistrate “good cause” against daytime service. In a statement, Virginia Governor Ralph S. Northam said that Breonna’s Law, as well as other police reform bills he signed into law on October 28, 2020, “represent a tremendous step forward in rebuilding trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.” Governor Northam also expressed confidence in Virginia’s potential to be “better, more just, and more equitable with these laws on [their] books.” Breonna’s Law has been passed as an ordinance in Louisville and is currently being considered by other state legislatures, including Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
On the federal level, and after speaking with Breonna Taylor’s family and civil rights activists, Senator Rand Paul (R), of Kentucky, filed the “Justice for Breonna Taylor Act,” in June 2020. According to Senator Paul, the legislation would “effectively end no-knock raids in the United States” by requiring federal law enforcement officers to provide notice of their authority and their purpose for entering the property before executing a search warrant. The law would also require any state and local police department receiving federal funding from the United States Department of Justice to ban no-knock warrants.
The conversation surrounding the prohibition of no-knock warrants is growing–and rightfully so–on the local, state, and federal levels. As Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palme stated before the Louisville Council unanimously passed Breonna’s Law, “All Breonna wanted to do was save lives. So it’s important that this law passes, because with that, she’ll get to continue to do that, even in her death.”