Crime Victims Rights Act

I hope to convince the Fifth Circuit to fully protect the families' rights under the Crime Victims' RIghts Act.

Paul Cassell | 2.4.2026 8:30 AM

Tomorrow I will be arguing in the Fifth Circuit for 31 families whose relatives were killed in the crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. I have filed two Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) petitions with the Circuit, asking it to reverse District Judge Reed O'Connor's approval of the Justice Department's motion to dismiss its criminal conspiracy case against Boeing. The petitions explain that the Department violated the CVRA by not reasonably conferring with the families about its dismissal plans—and by concealing a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) from the families in the initial phases of the case. The petitions also argue that Judge O'Connor failed to fully assess whether dismissing the case was in the "public interest." In this post, I set out the three main arguments I will be presenting, and attach the relevant filings (from both sides) for those who are interested.

I've blogged about the Boeing criminal case a number of times before, including here, here, and here. In a nutshell, Boeing lied to the FAA about the safety of its 737 MAX aircraft. The Justice Department charged Boeing with conspiracy for these lies, but then immediately entered into a DPA to resolve the criminal case. In subsequent litigation, the families proved that the 346 passengers and crew on board the two doomed 737 MAX flights were "crime victims" under the CVRA—they had been directly and proximately harmed by Boeing crime. This makes Boeing's conspiracy crime the "deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history," as Judge O'Connor described it.

In the most recent proceedings, the Justice Department moved to dismiss its earlier-filed charge against Boeing in favor of resolution through a non-prosecution agreement (NPA). Judge O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas granted the Justice Department's motion. In his order, Judge O'Connor essentially agreed with many of the factual objections that I have made for the families who lost loved ones because of Boeing's crime. But, reluctantly, Judge O'Connor dismissed the charge, concluding that he lacked a legal basis for blocking the Department's ill-conceived non-prosecution plan.

As authorized by the CVRA, I have filed two petitions (found here and here) seeking to overturn Judge O'Connor ruling. DOJ has responded, as has Boeing. My reply brief sets out the three main arguments for reversing the Judge O'Connor, which the Fifth Circuit will consider tomorrow:

Did the District Court Protect the Victims' Families' Rights at "Every Stage" of the Process

My first petition challenges the fact that the Justice Department orchestrated a secret deferred-prosecution agreement for Boeing back in in 2021, in violation of the families CVRA rights. Now, to protect the families' rights, the DPA needs to be declared void as against public policy. As my reply brief summarizes the argument:

the Court should instruct the district court to invalidate the........

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