No Knock Warrant
“Reform” Would Actually Codify No Knock Warrants by Gloria Tatum
With
additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale
(APN)
ATLANTA — On Monday, February 09, 2015, the Pak Subcommittee of Judiciary
Non-Civil Committee passed the language in HB 56, commonly called the “No Knock
bill,” with only minor tweaks.
The
bill’s supporters say it will reform Georgia’s problematic practice of no knock
warrants on the part of of local law enforcement agencies, who have killed and
injured innocent people. Recent controversies include the police murder
of Kathryn Johnston, 92, and the horrific injuries brought upon Bounkham
Phonesavanh, 19 months, known as Baby Bou Bou.
However,
critics of the bill say that, in the process of reforming No Knock warrants,
the bill will actually codify the practice, whereas the practice is not
currently a part of the Georgia code.
“Both
bills actually legalize no knock warrants. The Georgia Code O.C.G.A.
17-5-27 says that no knock warrants are illegal and requires all search
warrants with verbal notice. There’s a reason they are not in the Georgia
Code: no knock warrants are an offense to our founding principals as
Americans,” Catherine Bernard, a criminal defense lawyer, told Atlanta
Progressive News.
Indeed,
the current version of the Georgia Code does state that law enforcement is
required to provide notice of their intent to enter a property, specifically,
“verbal notice or an attempt in good faith to give verbal notice by the
officer.” (O.C.G.A. 17-5-27).
Thus,
not only would HB 56 codify “no knock warrants,” but it would purport to
nullify the existing provisions that appear to disallow no knock warrants.
NEED
FOR REFORM
Kathryn
Johnson was killed by Atlanta police when they went to the wrong house with a
no-knock search warrant looking for drugs. Then they planted drugs in her
house to cover up their mistake. The City of Atlanta paid her family almost
five millions dollars and three police officers eventually went to prison.
In
Habersham County, Baby Bou Bou was hit with a stun grenade and was seriously
burned, injured and disfigured when police broke into his home looking for
drugs. Again the police had the wrong house. The family have over
one million in medical bills. Lawsuits are still pending on this case.
Incidents
like these have created a public outcry for more restrictive use of no-knock
warrants and demands for accountability, reform, and demilitarization of police
departments.
Another
bill dealing with no-knock search warrants, SB 45, has been introduced by State
Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) and is known as “Baby Bou Bou’s Law.”
HB
56 CODIFIES NO KNOCK WARRANTS, BUT PLACES LIMITS
HB
56 would require that, in order to obtain a No Knock warrant, police would have
to show probable cause that evidence of interest would be destroyed and that
officers’ lives would be endangered if they knocked at a suspect’s door.
The
bill, in most cases, bars the use of no-knock warrants at night between 10pm and
6am.
Although
not perfect, some believe it is a first step to bring new regulations into play
before a warrant is given to an arresting officer.
State
Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville), a co-sponsor of HB 56, wrote the procedures
and requirements in the bill for a no-knock search warrant. Rep. Tanner
is a veteran law enforcement officer from Dawson County in North Georgia.
The
new regulations require a supervising officer to approve the no-knock warrant
and that a supervisor be present during the execution of a no-knock search
warrant. The regulations in HB 56 also require local police to have an
operational plan and require department to provide training on how to properly
execute a no knock warrant.
The
current version of HB 56 has no penalty for violating the requirements, and
still allows for evidence collected in an illegal no-knock search to be used
against the resident. Several people at the hearing took issue with these
omissions.
One
part of HB 56 that all stakeholders present seemed to like would require
monthly reporting on the number of search warrants sought, issued, and
executed, including the number of no-knock search warrants.
“This
bill will put sunshine on no-knocks warrants in lines 128 through 142,” State
Rep. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) on the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee said.
SOME
STAKEHOLDERS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT HB 56
Not
everyone thinks HB 56 will solve the problem. Some say No Knock warrants
have been allowed due to judicial activism.
“What
we are dealing with is judicial activism over decades, combined with influence
by law enforcement officers. They are being influenced by federal money
that’s pouring into militarization [of police]. It’s a huge and radical
expansion of government,” Bernard told APN.
Bernard
expressed her concerns during the subcommittee hearing.
Rep.
Tanner countered Bernard’s claim that no-knock warrants were illegal.
“If
the courts had found that conducting no-knock search warrants were unlawful in
Georgia, there would be a lot of cases thrown out of court. It’s a clear
precedent that has been set by the courts that allow for no-knock search
warrants to be executed in Georgia,” Rep. Tanner told the subcommittee.
With
so many Georgians owning guns today to protect their homes and their families
from a home invasion, no-knock warrants present a growing danger to everyone,
including citizens and police alike, when police officers break into a home
without announcing who they are.
“If
the government can break into your house without even telling you it’s the
government first, we have lost something dear. This is a dangerous
concept, regardless of party affiliation, we should reject as an unacceptable
infringement on our rights as American citizens,” Bernard testified at the
hearing.
The
right-wing Georgia newsletter, Political Vine, also recently sent out a
bulletin expressing their concerns with HB 56, mirroring Bernard’s comments.
“HB
56: Purposely Designed for Subterfuge & Misdirection,” was the title of
the Political Vine, February 17, 2015 edition.
“HB
56 is a bill designed to white-wash decades of judicial activism
that enabled LEO [law enforcement officers] to obtain and execute illegal
search warrants, which are referred to as ‘no-knock warrants’ in the common
environment,” Political Vine stated.
“HB
56 is a whitewash because it actually amends current law to define
‘no-knock warrants’ where no such term currently appears, and it obliterates
the existing law (OCGA 17-5-27) that prohibits warrants that allow no verbal
announcement from LEO before they breach a door,” Political Vine wrote.
Co-sponsors
of HB 56 are State Reps. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville), Rich Golick (R-Smyrna),
Carolyn Hugley (D-Columbus), Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula) and Dan Gasaway
(R-Homer
http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/02/21/no-knock-warrant-reform-would-actually-codify-no-knock-warrants/
Comments
This is one of those issues where many
Liberals and Conservatives agree. The connection is populism. Conservative Constitutionalists
fight against the usurpation of freedom, the right to privacy the right to
protect your home and property and the rule of Law. We will fight government
abuse of citizens.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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