Bill in Kentucky Would Make It a Misdemeanor to “Taunt” a Police Officer
Kentucky’s state Senate has passed a bill that would make it illegal to “taunt” a police officer. This bill is sponsored by Republican state Sen. Danny Carroll, a retired cop. Carroll brought forth the bill following the protests in Louisville last summer. These protests took place because of the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot by police, and some of these protests turned violent. The protests took place in downtown Louisville for weeks at Jefferson Square, which protestors dubbed “Injustice Square.”
According to AP News, “Taylor, a Black woman, was shot in her Louisville home multiple times by police during a botched drug raid. A grand jury indicted one officer on wanton endangerment charges in September for shooting into a neighbor’s apartment, but no officers were charged in connection with her death.
“Police had a no-knock warrant but said they knocked and announced their presence before entering Taylor’s apartment, a claim some witnesses have disputed. No drugs were found in Taylor’s apartment.”
According to the bill, anyone who "accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words, or by gestures or other physical contact, that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response" could be held criminally liable for their conduct. The penalty for conviction would be up to 90 days in jail and fines for this misdemeanor offense.
The bill would also increase the penalties for rioting. For example, those charged with rioting would have to be held for a minimum of 48 hours. Another part of the bill would make it a crime to put "a light, a laser pointer, an activated horn or other noise-making device towards the head" of a first responder.
The bill passed in Kentucky’s majority Republican Senate 22-11. It has now been sent to be debated by the House, which is also majority Republican.
Some Republican senators voted against the bill because they were concerned that it would infringe upon people’s First Amendment rights and put a strain on the judicial system. However, these Republicans are showing signs that they would support the bill if certain parts would be amended in the House.
Democratic senators are worried that this bill will be used to target peaceful protests. State Sen. Gerald Neal, who represents Louisville as a Democrat, called the bill “unnecessary” and “unreasonable.”
"This is a hammer on my district," Neil said. "I personally resent it. This is beneath this body."
Jecorey Arthur, who is a city council member from the prominently Black West End neighborhood in Louisville, spoke out on a televised panel against the bill: “It’s silly because it’s outright unconstitutional, and it’s serious because it really sends a strong message, sends a statement that some of our law enforcement, some of the people across this Commonwealth care more about white feelings than Black killings.”
According to USNews.com, “At a March 13 rally in Louisville marking the one-year anniversary of Taylor’s death, Sadiqa Reynolds, president of the Louisville Urban League, derided the measure as a ‘shut-up-and-take-it bill.’”
Lawmakers in Indiana, Alabama, Utah and other Republican-led states have also brought forth legislation that would increase penalties for rioting. According to USNews.com, “Under a Tennessee law passed last year, protesters could lose their right to vote for breaking certain laws during demonstrations.”
The Kentucky bill has been stalled in the state’s House of Representatives and it is not likely to pass. The chamber recently failed to bring it up to a vote, and with two weeks left in the legislative session, according to the state’s own rules, “the General Assembly would not have the opportunity to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, despite Republicans supermajorities in both the House and Senate” says USNews.com.
