Tag Archives: deferred prosecution agreements

Thank You FedEx, For Standing Up to the Feds

Originally published at Manhattan Institute By James Copland & Rafael Mangual | 6/21/16
On Friday, June 17, federal prosecutors made the unusual decision to suddenly drop a drug prosecution after a week of trial, some two years after indictment. The judge in the case, Charles R. Breyer, had expressed skepticism, calling it a “novel prosecution.” And indeed it was: the defendant in the trial was not an individual but the delivery company FedEx-though the government invoked some of the same statutes it’s used to go after the Mexican kingpin “El Chapo.”
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Manhattan Report: Justice Out of the Shadows

Originally published at Manhattan Institute by James R. Copland and Rafael A. Mangual | 6/15/16
Each year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal agencies enter into scores of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) with businesses: DPAs involve cases in which criminal charges have been filed, and the DOJ asserts that judicial oversight is limited to ensuring their compliance with the Speedy Trial Act; NPAs are entered into without the filing of any formal criminal charges, and no judge ever reviews their contents. Faced with the threat of criminal charges, most companies agree to settle because the collateral consequences of a conviction (or often, even an indictment) are so harsh—in many cases, they amount to a corporate death sentence.
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Deferred Prosecution Agreements; Yates Memo

Originally published at Washington Legal Foundation by Joe D. Whitley | November 18, 2015
Over the past 15 years, Deferred-Prosecution Agreements (DPA) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPA) have become a vehicle of choice for resolving complex criminal investigations. This progression is chronicled in the Washington Legal Foundation’s (WLF) “The Federal Erosion of Business Civil Liberties” Timeline. Continue Reading

Heritage Report: The Perils of Overcriminalization

Originally published at The Heritage Foundation by Paul Larkin Jr. and Michael Mukasey | February 12, 2015
What has happened to federal criminal law in recent decades? Several former senior Department of Justice officials have expressed their concern with the path we have taken,[1] along with the American Bar Association,[2] numerous members of the academy,[3] journalists,[4] and other organizations like The Heritage Foundation.[5] We agree with their considered opinion that overcriminalization is a serious problem and needs to be remedied before it further worsens the plight of the people tripped up by it and further injures the public interest Continue Reading

Eleventh Circuit Has Opportunity in Clay to Reshape Criminal Intent Prosecutions

Originally published at Washington Legal Foundation by Matthew G. Kaiser | 10/1/15
On Friday, October 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will hear oral arguments in a closely followed criminal health-care fraud case, U.S. v. Clay. Earlier this year, Washington Legal Foundation published a Legal Backgrounder on the case and its broader ramifications, Clay v. United States: When Executives Receive Jail Time for Ordinary Business Decisions. Continue Reading

Manhattan Report: The Shadow Lengthens

Originally published at Manhattan Institute by Isaac Gorodetski James R. Copland | 2/25/14
The last ten years have seen the emergence of a new approach to business regulation and prosecution of wrongdoing in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice now regularly enters into “deferred prosecution” or “non-prosecution” agreements (DPAs or NPAs) with large corporations, in which companies are paying billions of dollars in fines annually without trial. Continue Reading