Breonna Taylor recordings revelatory, but justice in case remains elusive

After the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in March, the Commonwealth of Kentucky became one of many launching pads for the racial justice movement. And last month's grand jury decision not to charge the officers in her killing brought Americans to the streets in protest and despair. As tensions boiled over, two officers were shot.

Now, the public is poring through hours of grand jury recordings in an attempt to reconcile the decision in this case with their concept of justice.

The recordings include testimony from Taylor’s boyfriend, who said he was "scared to death." They also include the voices of law enforcement, neighbors and the jurors themselves. About 15 hours of audio later, there's still no justice for Taylor, and we're no closer, as a society, to stopping another tragedy like this from happening.

Where do we go from here?

Peaceful protesters must continue to make their voices heard. But it’s time to move the protests from the streets to state houses, and channel all this passionate activism into passing reform legislation.

Taylor’s own family, through their grief, led this call.

Addressing the public after the announcement not to charge, they sought to honor Taylor's memory by urging lawmakers to enact comprehensive policing reforms. They refused to settle their civil case with the city of Louisville until certain reforms, including ones that change the search warrant process and expand transparency, were written into the agreement.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, made it clear the included reforms were just the beginning. Transformational change will only be achieved through the legislative process in states across the country.

Let’s start in Kentucky, Taylor’s home and my own.

After the Taylor shooting, Kentucky state Senate President Robert Stivers took the unusual step of announcing that he will personally sponsor a no-knock warrant ban bill. Declaring his intentions in July, Stivers, who represents a conservative rural district in Eastern Kentucky, stated affirmatively, “There is not a place in law enforcement for a no-knock search warrant.”

Stivers’ announcement drew support from both sides of the aisle, and passing this reform immediately will signal to the country that we can learn from tragedies and prohibit the practices that too often lead to them.

Across the country, state lawmakers have been inspired to file similarly courageous (and commonsense) legislation tackling other aspects of police reform.

The killings of Taylor, George Floyd and Eric Garner each raised questions about the disciplinary records of the officers involved — critical information that has been shielded by bureaucracy, local police unions, or both. For its part, New York state repealed measure 50-a in its legal code, opening police disciplinary records to public scrutiny for the first time in decades.

Recently, in the electoral battleground of Pennsylvania, the legislature passed House bill 1841, requiring all law enforcement agencies to conduct background checks on applicants and to divulge information about former employees. It also tasks a police commission with maintaining a database detailing disciplinary actions, performance evaluations and attendance records for officers.

Pennsylvania lawmakers also passed House bill 1910, which requires, among other things, training of local officers on how to treat people of diverse backgrounds, and in use-of-force and de-escalation techniques.

In Wisconsin, another hotly contested presidential swing state, lawmakers are taking a collaborative, bipartisan approach following the shooting of Jacob Blake and civil unrest in Kenosha. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, a Republican, recently joined Rep. Shelia Stubbs, a Democrat, as co-chairs of a task force that will tackle racial disparities and police reforms.

This bipartisan progress in the states often drives action at the federal level.

Today, Congress is paralyzed by unprecedented toxic partisanship. Police reform bills, including the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the Justice Act and the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act are trapped in seemingly hopeless gridlock. More than ever before, we need the states, our laboratories of democracy, to take the lead and set the example for bipartisan cooperation that puts people over partisanship. We urge state leaders to share their reform successes with their federal delegations, connect them to what’s happening in their own backyards and urge action on Capitol Hill as soon as possible.

Transformational change begins with grassroots activism at state houses, places already buzzing with progress and promising bipartisan legislative proposals that could use the incredible energy of social justice campaigns spearheaded by impacted families, young people, civil rights activists, faith leaders, small business owners and local law enforcement.

We only truly honor the memory of Taylor and the hundreds of other Black men and women gravely injured or taken too soon by uprooting the archaic legislative schemes that permitted the practices leading to their tragic deaths. What is legal is not always what is just.

Holly Harris is the executive director of the Justice Action Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Breonna Taylor recordings revelatory; justice in case remains elusive