Judge Didn’t Need to Cite DEI to Reject Boeing Deal, Experts Say

A federal judge in Texas went further than necessary by rejecting Boeing Co.’s plea deal over race being considered in picking an independent monitor to oversee the company’s future actions, law professors said.

US District Judge Reed O’Connor, a conservative jurist in Fort Worth, Texas, said in the Dec. 5 ruling that he was rejecting the agreement — which would allow the company to avoid criminal penalties over two fatal 737 Max crashes — in part because it sidelines his role in ensuring future compliance by Boeing.

But he dedicated far more of that decision to criticizing DOJ’s policy that ...