Perversion of Justice is a 2021 book written by Miami Herald investigative journalist Julie K. Brown. It expanded on her landmark 2018 investigative series of the same name that documented how Jeffrey Epstein had escaped serious prosecution through the 2008 non-prosecution agreement.
The original 2018 series (published November 28, 2018) was the single most important piece of journalism in the Epstein case. Brown spent over a year tracking down victims who had been silenced by NDAs and fear. She documented:
- The secretive nature of the 2008 NPA and how it violated victims’ rights
- The role of U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta in granting Epstein extraordinary leniency
- The scale of abuse — interviewing over 80 women who said they had been abused
- How Epstein’s wealth and connections reduced a potential federal life sentence to 13 months in county jail with daily work release
The series directly led to:
- A federal judge finding the NPA violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act in 2019
- Renewed pressure on prosecutors
- Epstein’s re-arrest in July 2019 by the SDNY
- Alexander Acosta’s resignation as Labor Secretary under public pressure
The 2021 book expanded the investigation with additional reporting, deeper context on the institutional failures, and Brown’s firsthand account of conducting the investigation while under pressure.
Julie Brown is widely credited with single-handedly reviving a case that the justice system had buried for a decade.