{"id":225,"date":"2026-06-22T14:45:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:45:05","slug":"court-determines-federal-defendants-appellate-waivers-unenforceable-if-a-miscarriage-of-justice-would-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=225","title":{"rendered":"Court determines federal defendants\u2019 appellate waivers unenforceable if a miscarriage of justice would result"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In\u00a0Hunter v. United States<\/em>\u00a0the Supreme Court held that a federal defendant\u2019s waiver of appellate review is unenforceable if it would result in a miscarriage of justice. Although the court did not decide whether enforcing the defendant\u2019s appellate waiver in his case would constitute a miscarriage of justice, the majority described the circumstances where this standard would be met as \u201crare\u201d and involving \u201cextreme cases,\u201d and the court described in general terms three examples that would constitute a miscarriage of justice while also outlining some common circumstances where a knowing and voluntary appellate waiver would be enforceable.<\/p>\n

Read more A victory for the defendant in United States v. Hemani, but little guidance for the lower courts<\/a><\/p>\n

Munson Hunter pleaded guilty to one fraud count stemming from a decade-long financial scheme that caused losses of nearly a half million dollars. In exchange for his plea, the government dismissed nine fraud counts, while Hunter agreed to waive his right to direct appeal and collateral review, except for claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. After Hunter was sentenced to 51 months of imprisonment, he filed a direct appeal but did not contest his term of imprisonment. Rather, he challenged a special condition of his supervised release to follow his prison sentence, requiring him to take medication that his healthcare provider prescribed for his depression and anxiety. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit\u00a0dismissed\u00a0Hunter\u2019s appeal, relying on his appellate waiver.<\/p>\n

Justice Elena Kagan\u2019s opinion, joined by six other justices, held that \u201can agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice\u2014meaning, when it would leave in place the kind of egregious error that would bring the judicial system into disrepute.\u201d Her opinion first addressed the source of the court\u2019s authority to adopt the miscarriage-of-justice exception and then offered some guidance on what such an exception would cover, although the court did not address how the exception would apply in Hunter\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

In describing its authority to adopt the miscarriage-of-justice standard, Kagan pointed to a district court\u2019s role under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(3)(A) in accepting a plea agreement and federal courts\u2019 institutional interest in ensuring that legal proceedings appear fair to all who observe them. The parties had focused on principles of contract law, but Kagan\u2019s opinion did not rely on them (although at the same time she did not repudiate any precedent that applies contract law to plea agreements).<\/p>\n

Kagan\u2019s opinion might appear to involve an application of what courts have referred to as federal courts\u2019 supervisory powers (that is, the power to manage the activities of the judiciary). But as Justice Clarence Thomas\u2019 dissent highlighted, Kagan\u2019s opinion never actually says that the court did rely on supervisory powers, and the court\u2019s opinion is ambiguous on that doctrine. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who as a law professor wrote about federal courts\u2019 supervisory powers, concurred in an opinion that addressed the scope of supervisory powers and sought to ground the court\u2019s ruling in waiver principles, while Thomas\u2019 dissent rejected, among other things, that supervisory powers could justify the court\u2019s rule here at all. The separate opinions suggest that Kagan\u2019s minimalism in explaining how the court grounded its authority for adopting a miscarriage-of-justice exception was thus necessary to reach an eight-justice majority.<\/p>\n

Turning to when the miscarriage-of-justice standard might be achieved, Kagan\u2019s opinion began with a general description of when the standard would not be met. \u201cSentencing is a complex affair in our criminal justice system,\u201d she noted, \u201cinvolving for example the detailed calculation of a Sentencing Guidelines range and the mandatory consideration of multiple sentencing factors.\u201d Mistakes inevitably occur, and \u201c[s]uch standard-fare errors in misapplying sentencing law cannot cancel an appeal waiver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hemani: proving the reason, not just naming it<\/a><\/p>\n

But to offer some guidance on when the miscarriage-of-justice standard would be fulfilled, Kagan described three examples, while cautioning that because \u201c[e]xtreme cases\u201d are \u201chard to anticipate before they happen,\u201d her list is not exhaustive. First, Kagan said that an appellate waiver would not prevent a defendant from appealing \u201ca sentence exceeding what the relevant statute allows\u2014most commonly, a term of years above the maximum prescribed.\u201d Second, appeals are permitted of \u201ca blatant constitutional error, such as when a judge takes account of a constitutionally impermissible factor (like race).\u201d Third, she said that appellate waivers could not be enforced when a sentence was \u201cimposed without \u2018some minimum of civilized procedure,\u2019\u201d which the court illustrated with the example of a judge who \u201clet an orangutan pick a sentence out of a hat.\u201d It was also undisputed that an appellate waiver is unenforceable when defense counsel\u2019s ineffectiveness undermines the knowingness and voluntariness of the plea.<\/p>\n

Justice Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s concurring opinion, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Barrett, reiterated their view that the court set a \u201chigh bar\u201d for finding a miscarriage of justice and disputed the interpretation of the rule by Justice Neil Gorsuch\u2019s concurrence, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Gorsuch\u2019s concurrence broadly criticized the prevalence of plea deals and focused on objections to pleas that do not turn on the existence of an appellate waiver.<\/p>\n

Before reaching the miscarriage-of-justice standard, Kagan briefly addressed an issue that Hunter raised that attracted no support on the court. After Hunter entered into his plea agreement and had the terms of the appellate waiver reviewed at his plea hearing, the district court concluded the sentencing hearing by telling Hunter, \u201cYou have a right to appeal. If you wish to appeal, [your trial counsel] will continue to represent you.\u201d Hunter contended that the prosecutor\u2019s failure to object constituted a waiver by the government of his appellate waiver. The court was unpersuaded. First, the court noted that the plea agreement said that it could be modified in writing only, which did not occur. Second, the government\u2019s silence did not constitute an \u201caffirmative signal of \u2018abandonment,\u2019\u201d which is usually necessary to find that a party waived a claim.<\/p>\n

In total, Kagan\u2019s opinion seemed designed to convey to lower courts simultaneously that a miscarriage-of-justice standard governs appellate waivers and that such a standard will successfully apply in only the most extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n

Read more A new wave of election cases<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In\u00a0Hunter v. United States\u00a0the Supreme Court held that a federal defendant\u2019s waiver of appellate review is unenforceable if it would result in a miscarriage of justice. 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