WASHINGTON – Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra issued the following statement:

Today would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday. 

Our Constitution prohibits the atrocious abuses she suffered at the hands of Louisville police. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, in part, to protect African Americans from arbitrary police violence. To help make this promise a reality, CAC has called for an end to “no knock” warrants, and the judge-made qualified immunity doctrine that insulates police from accountability. But these are just first steps. Achingly, Taylor’s death is more bitter evidence that the full promise of our Constitution has yet to be fulfilled.

Today, CAC reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor, and we rededicate ourselves to helping bend the arc of our Constitution’s progress closer to justice. May our Constitution’s majestic guarantees of freedom and equality soon be a reality, so that no other family in America has to bear the pain of such a terrible, indefensible loss.

#

Resources:

“CAC Statement on National Day of Mourning,” Elizabeth Wydra, June 4, 2020: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/cac-statement-on-national-day-of-mourning/ 

“The Supreme Court Enabled Horrific Police Violence by Ignoring Constitutional History,” David H. Gans, Slate, June 3, 2020: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/supreme-court-enabled-george-floyd-murder-police-violence.html

“Civil Rights Coalition Letter on Federal Policing Priorities,” Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, June 1, 2020: https://civilrights.org/resource/civil-rights-coalition-letter-on-federal-policing-priorities/ 

“Here’s What You Need to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death,” New York Times, May 30, 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.htm 

##

Constitutional Accountability Center is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history. Visit CAC’s website at www.theusconstitution.org.

###