My Take On the Recommended One-Day Sentence for Ex-Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor's Death

The defendant, Hankison, was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights during a botched raid in which she was killed. The jury found him guilty of firing blindly through her window, which is a serious federal civil rights violation. Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 242), such a conviction can carry a sentence of up to life in prison if death results from the violation.

Given this, the DOJ’s recommendation of just one day in prison, especially for a conviction involving the death of an unarmed Black woman, deviates sharply from both statutory maximums and historical sentencing practices for similar civil rights violations involving police misconduct.

This is not just a legal move, it’s a symbolic one. The filing was signed not by career prosecutors, but by Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump-aligned political appointee. That breaks with longstanding DOJ norms, where frontline prosecutors who tried the case typically sign sentencing memos.

This signals political influence, especially troubling in a high-profile civil rights case. It also contradicts the Biden administration’s stated commitment to racial justice and police accountability.

This recommendation risks undermining public confidence in the DOJ’s civil rights enforcement. It sends a troubling message that even when an officer is found guilty of civil rights violations that result in death, the penalty might amount to symbolic accountability rather than meaningful consequences.

The DOJ memo argues mitigating factors around (1) Hankison had already been acquitted at the state level, (2) One federal trial resulted in a mistrial, and (3) He’s now a convicted felon who lost his job and career.

These are mitigating factors, but none of them eliminate the gravity of the conduct or the resulting harm. Losing a job is not a substitute for criminal punishment, especially where a life was lost due to unconstitutional use of force.

My take is the DOJ’s one-day sentencing request is legally unjustified, politically suspect, and morally indefensible. It disregards the gravity of the conviction, ignores the expectations of racial justice that this administration promised, and erodes public faith in the rule of law, especially for Black communities who already see law enforcement as operating with impunity. This is a glaring step backward for federal civil rights enforcement.

Mitch Jackson, Esq. | links

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