Breonna Taylor wanted to save lives, we must celebrate her life

It’s been 103 days because the Louisville Police Department’s SWAT team stormed Breonna Taylor’s home and murdered her. Breonna was shot a minimum of eight times by police. She was not the prime suspect, and although police executed a drug warrant, no drugs were ever found.

Like many Black women, 26-year-old Breonna was a vital employee. She was an emergency medical technician, responding to crises in her community in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her mother, Tamika Palmer, later common that is all [Breonna] I just wanted to save lives.”

We have to say Breonna Taylor’s name.

Kimberle Crenshaw, a law professor on the University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia Law School, launched the #SayHerName campaign to bring attention to Black women who’ve been brutalized and killed by law enforcement. It is a reminder that Black women also fall victim to police brutality and systemic racism. As black women, we live in fear for our sons, brothers and husbands, but we also fear for ourselves.

This concern is just not latest. Let us keep in mind that one among our country’s most significant voices within the fight against police brutality was civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. In 1963, Hamer and a gaggle of other activists were returning home after attending a voter registration workshop in South Carolina. When the bus stopped in Winona, Mississippi, the restaurant owner refused to serve the group. When the group returned to the bus, Hamer and her colleagues were arrested by police. Like Hamer later he reminded: “They beat me until my body was stiff, until I could not bend my fingers or get up after they told me to. This created a blood clot in his left eye – his vision was almost gone. And my kidney was damaged from the blows they gave me within the back. Fannie Lou Hamer’s courage to share her experience helped center Black women and girls within the fight for justice in our law enforcement system.

And so, after 103 days and no justice, I say Breonna Taylor’s name. I say the names of Sandra Bland, Atatiana Jefferson, Aiyana Jones and countless others who’ve been killed by police or died in police custody. And I, too, demand change.

Last week, the Louisville Police Department fired one among the officers involved in Breonna’s murder. Let’s be clear: this is just not justice. Every officer involved in Breonna’s death must be arrested. Me too, together with Representative Lucy McBath He demanded The Justice Department has launched an independent investigation into Breonna’s murder and whether the Louisville Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations. This would make it easier for us to find answers and justice for Breonna Taylor’s family.

Moreover, it’s time for us to rethink our criminal justice system, taking steps to improve public trust and hold officers accountable for misconduct. We can start by calling on Congress to pass the Justice in Policing Act. Here’s why we need this bill to be implemented:

First, we need a national standard for the usage of force. Today, the usual for many officers across the country is whether or not the usage of force was “reasonable.” But we know that nearly anything might be justified. A much fairer and equitable standard is to determine whether the usage of force was “necessary,” meaning the officer had no other option. Under our Justice in Policing Act, if an officer uses excessive force against a citizen, she or he can be prosecuted in federal court.

Second, we must enact a nationwide ban on no-knock warrants in drug cases, a practice that enables officers to enter Breonna Taylor’s apartment suddenly. Earlier this month, the Louisville Metro Council unanimously passed , prohibiting Louisville police from using no-knock search warrants. It’s time to ban no-knock warrants in drug cases across the country.

Third, as a former prosecutor, I do know that independent investigations into police misconduct are essential. No matter how well-intentioned a district attorney or state attorney could also be, after they are called upon to investigate misconduct by a police officer working in a department with which they work each day, there can be an appearance of conflict, if not an actual conflict. To ensure public confidence, we need independent investigations.

Finally, we must expand investigation patterns and practices to police departments and provides state attorneys general the authority to investigate systemic misconduct inside departments. As California’s attorney general, I established civil investigations and practice in police departments, so I understand how essential these investigations are in rooting out misconduct and abuse. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice conducted quite a few investigations into patterns and practices inside police departments, including Ferguson, Missouri, after the murder of Michael Brown. But under President Trump, the Justice Department has slowed these investigations almost entirely.

There are sensible, common sense solutions to be certain what happened to Breonna never happens again and to bring justice to Breonna’s family. Congress simply must have the need to act.

Breonna Taylor worked to save lives in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic; it is time we honor her memory.