How a US judge injected culture wars into Boeing 737 MAX plea deal

A Texas federal judge with a record of ruling in favor of conservative causes injected uncertainty into Boeing's agreement to plead guilty over two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes, seizing upon a single sentence in the deal about the U.S. Department of Justice's diversity policy. In an unexpected move, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor last week asked the parties to brief him by Friday on an element of the deal that says the DOJ will follow its "commitment to diversity and inclusion” when selecting an independent monitor to audit Boeing's safety and compliance practices. “It's incredibly unusual for a judge to zero in on a DOJ policy related to DEI like this - particularly in a criminal case involving such a major corporation," said Duncan Levin, a white-collar defense lawyer and former prosecutor, referring to policies commonly known as diversity, equity and inclusion. O'Connor is weighing whether to approve the plea agreement between the DOJ and Boeing and has said he expects to rule soon. The deal calls for the company to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud regulators in connection with the crashes, which killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019. The sole reference to the DOJ's DEI policy appears on page 26 of the 32-page agreement. Families of the victims have filed briefs strongly urging O'Connor to reject the deal, saying it fails to properly hold Boeing and its executives accountable for the deaths of their loved ones.<br/>