Kenneth Marra

Background

Judge Kenneth Marra is a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. He was assigned to hear the Crime Victims’ Rights Act lawsuit filed by attorneys Gregory Edwards and Paul Cassell on behalf of Courtney Wild and other Epstein victims.

The CVRA Ruling

On February 21, 2019, Judge Marra issued a landmark ruling finding that the 2008 non-prosecution agreement between the U.S. Attorney’s Office (under Alex Acosta) and Jeffrey Epstein violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

Specifically, Marra found that prosecutors had violated the CVRA’s requirement to confer with crime victims before entering into a plea or prosecution arrangement. Victims had been kept in the dark about the NPA negotiations and were not notified before the agreement was signed. When they learned of it, they were affirmatively misled about its effects.

Significance

The Marra ruling was one of the most significant judicial accountability decisions in the Epstein case. It formally established that the government had violated federal law in handling victims’ rights. However, the ruling came without a clear remedy the NPA remained in place and Epstein had already served his sentence.

The ruling contributed to the political and institutional pressure that ultimately led to Epstein’s 2019 federal arrest and Acosta’s resignation.