Previously I blogged about my petition to the Fifth Circuit under the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA). My petition argues the families who lost relatives in the crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX crashes should have been afforded their CVRA rights to confer with prosecutors about prosecuting Boeing for its admitted crime of lying to the FAA about the safety of the MAX. The Fifth Circuit has set oral argument on the case, and tomorrow I will argue to the Circuit that it should grant the petition. In this post, I briefly set out the procedural history of the case and link to important briefs on both sides of the case (some citations omitted) for those who are interested.
The case arises out of "the deadliest corporate crime in our nation's history," as the district court described it. During the development of the Boeing 737 MAX, Boeing lied to the FAA about new safety features of the aircraft. As a result of that deception, the FAA did not require pilot training on those new features–ultimately causing the crashes of two of the aircraft and producing the deaths of 346 passengers and crew.
Ultimately, the Justice Department began an investigation into Boeing crimes. And late in 2020 and early 2021, the Department reached a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Boeing. Under the DPA, Boeing admitted that it criminally conspired to deceive the FAA. But, under the DPA, Boeing will not be prosecuted for its crimes in exchange for various concessions.
