Hunter v. United States
- Case No.: 24-1063
- Jurisdiction: United States Supreme Court
- Brief Filed: December 11, 2025
Briefs
Question Presented
decision below No. 24-20211, 2024 WL 5003582 (5th Cir. Dec. 6, 2024)
Argument(s)
The Fifth Circuit’s practice of strictly enforcing appeal waiver provisions in plea agreements shields unlawful convictions and sentences from review and undermines the public’s interest in protecting the constitutional rights of the accused. The Fifth Circuit recognizes only two narrow exceptions to the enforceability of appeal waivers: claims that a sentence exceeds the statutory maximum, and claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Prosecutors who obtain plea agreements with broad appeal waivers can effectively nullify defendants’ right to be free from unconstitutional sentences, to be free from criminal conviction under an unconstitutional statute, and to have exculpatory information in the government’s possession produced to the defendant and considered at sentencing. In this case, an appeal waiver prevented the court of appeals from considering whether a sentencing condition requiring involuntary medication is unconstitutional. NACDL argues that the Court should reject the Fifth Circuit’s strict enforcement regime and adopt the more flexible approach employed by other circuits that permit judicial review, appeal waiver notwithstanding, where necessary to prevent manifest injustice.
Author(s)
Justin D. Weitz, Stephanie Schuster, Matthew D. O’Keefe, and Elena Jacob, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington, DC and Boston, MA; Barbara E. Bergman, NACDL, Tucson, AZ
