A judge recently dismissed a couple of the federal charges against two former Louisville, Kentucky, police officers who instigated the 2020 drug raid that killed Breonna Taylor. The ruling was by no means a vindication of the defendants, who still face several misdemeanor and felony charges, and it was an implicit indictment of the reckless tactics that led to Taylor's death.
That outcome, U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson emphasized, did not hinge on the validity of the search warrant, which federal prosecutors say was not supported by probable cause. Rather, Simpson said, Taylor's death resulted from "the late-night, surprise manner of entry"—an approach that drug warriors still favor despite many years of experience with its dangers.
