Trump-appointed judge rebuffs DOJ over 'incongruous and inappropriate' sentencing memo
Pam Bondi, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, reacts as she testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
A federal judge on Monday sentenced former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised probation on Monday for violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights during the 2020 raid that resulted in her death. The judge termed the Department of Justice's (DOJ) recommendation of no prison time "incongruous and inappropriate."
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings imposed the sentence, stating that "no prison time is not appropriate" for Hankison, according to Politico. She also said it was "startling" that no one else was harmed in the violent raid.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was fatally shot by police officers during a botched raid on her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020. The officers, executing a no-knock search warrant, forcibly entered her home while she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep. The incident ignited nationwide protests against police brutality.
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Hankison was the only officer charged in connection with the incident, during which he reportedly fired 10 shots into Taylor's apartment.
Last week, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, urged Judge Jennings to impose “one day in prison” for Hankison — time he has essentially already served — and to sentence him to three years of supervised release. The move sparked criticism from civil rights advocates who viewed it as a step back in efforts to hold law enforcement accountable.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented Taylor's family in securing a $12 million wrongful death settlement, had condemned the DOJ's request, per Politico.
He called the recommendation "an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision," adding that "Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity."
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Hankison had previously been acquitted of state charges in 2022 and faced a mistrial in a federal case before his conviction.
AlterNet reached out to the DOJ for comment.
