The implications in these suits are chilling, no matter how unsympathetic Epstein may personally have been. They suggest that mere allegations against someone should warrant financial institutions canceling their accounts—something that seems not only unfair on its face but also likely to hamper a person’s ability to defend themselves in court. A society where private businesses must reject anyone accused of crimes or face criminal liability themselves is perverse, frightening, and antithetical to civil liberties. Even the expectation that someone who had pleaded guilty to any crime should be excluded from banks doesn’t seem desirable.

Banks are, of course, private institutions and allowed to reject business from whomever they choose. They have no duty to presume innocence until proven guilty. But if federal court rulings play a role in encouraging such antics, it’s difficult to say how freely or coerced these private decisions really are.