Recent high-profile sex crime cases such as the Bill Cosby case and Jeffrey Epstein case have catapulted the non-prosecution agreement into the public spotlight. Non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) are legally binding arrangements between government agencies such as the Department of Justice and companies or individuals facing a criminal or civil investigation. Under the agreement, the government refrains from filing further charges as long as the company or individual agrees to its demands, which typically requires that companies/individuals either pay a fine or cooperate with the government. [1] Given that NPAs are typically applied to cases dealing with corporate crime, the use of the non-prosecution agreement in the Cosby and Epstein cases was highly unprecedented.
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