When Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old Black woman, was killed at home during a botched police raid, her family settled with the city of Louisville, Ky., for $12 million and changes to police practices.
The officers, however, were not charged in her death. And unlike their employer, it is highly unlikely that they will be successfully sued, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court doctrine known as “qualified immunity.”
Reformers have targeted the protection for police in the courts but have gotten nowhere. The Supreme Court has refused to take up cases directly addressing the issue this year prompting ...