WASHINGTON _ Two members of Congress filed a bill Friday that would increase punishment for prosecutors if they fail to inform crime victims of plea deals, an effort to prevent future, secret agreements like the one serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein received from then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta in 2007.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., filed the Crime Victims' Rights Act of 2020 on Friday. The legislation would add specific notice requirements to ensure victims are made aware of their rights by prosecutors, and judges will be able to remove or punish prosecutors who fail to do so.
"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 a statement. "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."
