After Jeffrey Epstein plea deal backlash, Debbie Wasserman Schultz seeks victims’ rights protections

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
A 2008 plea deal was concealed from Epstein's alleged victims.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is pushing a bipartisan measure filed in response to a heavily-criticized plea deal given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.

Prior to his 2019 arrest on child trafficking charges, Epstein faced similar charges just over a decade earlier.

Epstein’s earlier case closed with an agreement between state prosecutors and his legal team that resulted in just 13 months of jail time. Much of that time was spent on supervised release outside of prison, during which Epstein reportedly continued to victimize women.

Not only was that sentence criticized as lenient, the plea agreement was also concealed from Epstein’s alleged victims. Prosecutors also declined to charge Epstein’s alleged conspirators.

Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, is now joining GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin to offer stronger protections against such a deal in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CRVA) of 2020.

Those victims alleged Epstein’s deal violated a previous version of the CRVA. Wasserman Schultz and Sensenbrenner want to strengthen the bill to prevent a repeat of that controversial 2008 agreement.

“If federal prosecutors re-victimize innocent victims — as Epstein’s horrific plea deal did — they must be held accountable, in a timely fashion,” Wasserman Schultz said in remarks on the legislation.

“This legislation would give our justice system vital tools to prevent such gross miscarriages of injustice from being repeated. His victims deserve to know that no one will suffer the way they have again.”

The updated legislation will increase victims’ rights to be notified regarding updates in a specific case. Judges may sanction prosecutors who do not provide that information.

The measure would also establish an Office of Crime Victims’ Rights within the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility. That office would “receive, investigate, and adjudicate complaints of a CVRA violation,” according to an explainer on the bill.

Congress would then receive yearly updates on the frequency of those complaints.

“This bipartisan bill strengthens our criminal justice system by ensuring that crime victims are not mistreated by bad-intentioned prosecutors,” Sensenbrenner added in a statement.

“It also increases accountability and provides a better avenue for the Justice Department to identify and root out abuse and corruption.”

Epstein’s 2019 arrest ended in his controversial death while in federal custody. New York City’Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Ryan Nicol

Ryan Nicol covers news out of South Florida for Florida Politics. Ryan is a native Floridian who attended undergrad at Nova Southeastern University before moving on to law school at Florida State. After graduating with a law degree he moved into the news industry, working in TV News as a writer and producer, along with some freelance writing work. If you'd like to contact him, send an email to [email protected].


One comment

  • Heather

    January 19, 2020 at 1:18 am

    Too little too late, love from Australia #WG1WGA

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories