warrants signatures Zach Crabtree WDRB.jpeg
An analysis by KyCIR and WDRB found that, of 231 Jefferson County search warrants, more than two-thirds included an illegible judge's signature and no other way to identify the approving judge. These are examples of those signatures, taken from warrants we obtained.
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After the killing of Breonna Taylor, we reviewed hundreds of Louisville police search warrants and found that it's often hard to tell which judge approved them — because judges don't bother to sign legibly or print their names.
"When a police officer comes to your house with a warrant, you should be able to ask to see that warrant and see which judge said that this is OK," reporter Jacob Ryan of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting says on the latest episode of our news podcast, Uncovered by WDRB.
