Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (https://kycir.org/prominence/top-story/)
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Breonna Taylor’s story highlights an issue advocates have long reckoned with: Why are Black women’s stories of police brutality not highlighted with the same intensity of Black men?
If renewed calls for a tougher civilian review board sound familiar, it’s because it’s been a common refrain over the last 20 years — and it’s never really happened.
The officers have not been cleared of wrongdoing in the Shelby Gazaway case, but they’re back on patrol.
Despite weeks of daily calls from protesters to “say their name,” neither Breonna Taylor nor David McAtee is listed by name in the database of police shootings that’s also riddled with inaccuracies.
Crimes motivated by hate aren’t treated much differently than other crimes under Kentucky state law.
During a week when thousands have taken to Louisville’s streets in protest, many have pressed a demand on Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and police leaders — fire the officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor. But Fischer and others have pointed to due process requirements for officers — some set in state law, others in a union contract — in saying there is no quick or easy action they can take to discipline the officers without a thorough investigation. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed by plainclothes Louisville Metro police detectives in March, who burst into her home to serve a search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend has said he thought the home was getting broken into when he fired a shot and struck an officer in the leg; the officers’ return shots killed Taylor.
Her death sparked national outrage and was a catalyst for the recent protests that have erupted in Louisville and across the rest of the nation. But so far, city officials have said firing the officers involved in her killing isn’t an option, at least for now.
The governor has so far commuted 1,154 sentences. That’s more than many other states, but it’s still a small portion of the 24,000 individuals serving state sentences in Kentucky — and only 16 came from Green River Correctional Complex, where 40% of inmates have caught coronavirus.
The decision to start a phased reopening took place amid a confluence of economic worry, social distancing exhaustion and political pressure.
If you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation, or you just want to talk, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233. Find a local shelter and a 24/7 crisis line at KCADV.org.
The COVID-19 pandemic lays bare the quandary of life in public housing: staying home means dealing with a crowded, antiquated high rise, plagued with maintenance issues and infestations.