Overview
Protecting Your Rights: No Knock Warrant Lawyers
No-knock warrants have become increasingly controversial for various reasons over the last several years. Issued by a judge, this type of search warrant allows law enforcement to enter a home or building without immediate prior notification of the residents and is issued under the belief that destruction of evidence may occur before police officers or a SWAT team entering the property, or due to concerns that an imminent threat to law enforcement may exist on the property.
No-knock warrants and high-risk situations
While these are high-risk situations for members of law enforcement agencies, we have unfortunately seen examples of individuals' civil rights and Fourth Amendment rights being grossly violated, oftentimes when the individual is posing no imminent threat to police officers. Data from an ACLU study shows that 42 percent of the households raided with search warrants had Black occupants, but only 12 percent of the United States population is Black. The same report indicated that 36 percent of the raids resulted in absolutely nothing being found. Clearly, there is a problem that crying out for reform.
No-knock raids that have turned tragic have made headlines across the country, from the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky to incidents that have ranged from insulting to injurious in Chicago, New York and elsewhere.
Advocacy and civil rights
Our legal team is proud to join Attorney Ben Crump in co-representing the family of 22-year-old Amir Locke, who was killed during the service of a no-knock warrant in Minneapolis in February of 2022. Locke, who had no criminal record and was not named in the warrant, was asleep on the couch when he was awoken by the no-knock raid and ultimately was shot and killed by police.
The family of Amir Locke is working closely with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others to encourage federal and state lawmakers to ban or significantly restrict the use of no-knock search warrants by law enforcement officers. In April of 2021, Kentucky signed Breonna's Law, which limits the use of no-knock raids. In March of 2022, a federal bill called the Amir Locke End Deadly No-knock Raids was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives, while similar legislation has been proposed in Minnesota.
The Romanucci & Blandin team, along with our clients, advocates strongly for reform in the use of no-knock warrants by law enforcement, whether it be a moratorium on their use or significant restrictions on when they can be used. Every no-knock entry is a high-risk situation and we see too often when they result in injury or death along with property damage, and further erode trust in the police by the community. The reduction of no-knock warrants and the gathering of dependable data and details about them are important topics of conversation with law enforcement leaders, community advocates, as well as each state’s attorney general and the Supreme Court.
Your no-knock warrant claim
Our team of civil rights lawyers at Romanucci & Blandin knows firsthand how one search warrant is invasive and can cause irreparable harm to an individual or family. The number of no-knock warrants conducted throughout the country has increased dramatically over the years, bringing into question the exigent circumstances in which they are being issued and whether or not law enforcement is being trained properly to handle the split-second decisions that often accompany each police raid.
The bottom line is that public safety and the sanctity of human life should always remain at the forefront of actions taken by police officers when they execute a no-knock warrant. Romanucci & Blandin's police misconduct and civil rights team has experience and success in handling cases where safety has not been prioritized and works to bring justice to those involved.
Free Consultation on your case by Chicago-based no-knock warrant lawyers
The attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin focusing on no-knock warrant litigation have proven success in these types of cases. Please contact our office at 312-458-1000 or click here for a free case evaluation. There is never a fee until you are compensated for your injuries at the end of the case.
Disclaimer: The content found on this page is not legal assistance and contacting the civil rights and police misconduct lawyers at Romanucci & Blandin’s law office for a free consultation regarding personal injury cases and no-knock warrant claims does not constitute an attorney-client relationship.
