On June 18, 2026, the Supreme Court decided that an appeal waiver buried in a federal plea agreement is not always the dead end prosecutors and defendants long assumed it was. In Hunter v. United States, No. 24-1063, the Court held 8-1 that such a waiver is unenforceable when enforcing it 'would result in a miscarriage of justice,' meaning when it would leave in place the kind of egregious error that would bring the judicial system into disrepute. The case reached the Court through an unlikely vehicle: a man trying to challenge a supervised-release condition that required him to take all prescribed mental-health medications. That routine dispute is now a landmark plea-bargain ruling, and because appeal waivers are standard language in most federal plea deals, it reshapes what a defendant actually surrenders by signing one.
What an appeal waiver actually surrenders
Most federal plea agreements contain an appeal waiver. In exchange for the benefits of pleading guilty, often the dismissal of other counts and a lighter recommended sentence, a defendant agrees not to challenge the conviction or sentence on appeal. The practical effect is significant. A defendant frequently signs the waiver before the sentence is even imposed, surrendering the right to contest errors that have not yet happened. Roughly 95% of criminal convictions in the United States result from guilty pleas rather than trials, so for the overwhelming majority of people in the federal system, the appeal waiver, not the trial verdict, defines what review they can later seek. As one analysis of the ruling noted, that makes the enforceability of these waivers central to how American criminal justice actually operates.
The facts of Hunter
Munson Hunter III was charged in a 10-count bank and wire fraud indictment stemming from a years-long scheme that cost financial institutions roughly $500,000. He pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding and abetting wire fraud. In exchange, the government dismissed the other nine counts and made a non-prosecution promise. As part of that agreement, Hunter signed a standard appeal waiver.
The District Court sentenced him to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. One condition of that supervised release required Hunter to take all mental-health medications prescribed by his treating physician. Hunter tried to appeal that medication condition. There was a procedural wrinkle that mattered: the District Court had told him he could raise future medication disputes with the probation officer or the court, and Hunter relied on that statement when he took the condition to the Fifth Circuit.
The circuit split the Court resolved
The Fifth Circuit enforced the waiver and dismissed Hunter's appeal, even while assuming for the sake of argument that a constitutional error had occurred. That court followed a strict minority rule, recognizing only two narrow escape hatches from an appeal waiver: ineffective assistance of counsel, and a sentence exceeding the statutory maximum. Most other circuits had already adopted a broader approach, refusing to enforce a waiver where doing so would produce a miscarriage of justice. The Supreme Court took the case to settle that split, and it sided with the majority rule, rejecting the Fifth Circuit's stricter view.
The new exception explained
Writing for the Court, Justice Kagan framed the holding precisely. An agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when enforcing it would result in a miscarriage of justice, meaning when it would leave in place the kind of egregious error that would bring the judicial system into disrepute.
Just as important as the rule is how narrow Kagan said it is. The standard is a deliberately high bar. The error must be obvious and egregious, not the kind of mistake a judge could reasonably make. Ordinary sentencing disputes do not qualify. Kagan offered examples of errors that would clear the bar: a sentence exceeding the statutory maximum; a sentence infected with a blatant constitutional error, such as reliance on a constitutionally impermissible factor like race; and a sentence imposed without some minimum of civilized procedure. The exception is meant to catch the rare, system-discrediting error, not to reopen routine disagreements about how a judge weighed the facts.
The lineup
The decision was 8-1. Justice Kagan wrote the majority opinion. Several justices wrote separately: Justice Gorsuch filed a concurrence joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson; Justice Kavanaugh filed a concurrence joined by Justices Alito and Barrett; and Justice Barrett also wrote separately. Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter. He warned that the ruling could erode the certainty and finality that prosecutors depend on when they negotiate plea bargains, the very predictability that makes those deals attractive to the government in the first place.
What happens to Hunter now
The Court did not decide whether Hunter wins. It vacated the Fifth Circuit's judgment and remanded the case so that court can apply the new test to his medication condition. The Fifth Circuit must now ask whether enforcing Hunter's waiver against his challenge would leave in place the kind of egregious error the Court described. That is a question the lower court will answer first under the standard it had previously rejected.
Practical takeaways for anyone weighing a plea
For defendants considering a plea offer and the lawyers advising them, Hunter clarifies the limits of an appeal waiver without rewriting it. A waiver is still binding and still gives up the right to challenge ordinary sentencing decisions. What changed is the floor beneath it. A waiver can no longer force a court to enforce a sentence that exceeds the statutory maximum, rests on a constitutionally impermissible factor, or was imposed without basic procedure.
What the ruling does not do is equally important. It does not let a defendant relitigate a sentence simply because it feels too harsh, nor does it reopen disagreements about how a judge applied the sentencing guidelines. Kagan's repeated emphasis on the high bar signals that most appeals attempting to use the new exception will fail. The decision adds a narrow safety valve; it does not turn every signed waiver into an open invitation to appeal.
The bigger picture
Because guilty pleas produce roughly 95% of convictions and appeal waivers are baked into most federal plea deals, even a narrow change to their enforceability touches a large share of the system. The ruling has reignited a longstanding debate over coercive plea bargaining, the concern that defendants accept deals, and the waivers attached to them, under pressure rather than genuine choice. Supporters of the decision see it as a modest check on agreements that can leave serious errors unreviewable. Thomas's dissent frames the cost on the other side: less finality for the government. Hunter does not resolve that larger debate. It draws one new line, and a deliberately narrow one, around how far a signature on a plea agreement can reach.
Related reading
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[Chatrie v. United States Could End Geofence Warrants: Why the Supreme Court Is About to Decide If Police Can Dragnet Everyone Near a Crime Scene](/article/chatrie-v-united-states-geofence-warrants-supreme-court)
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Case v. Montana Hands Police a New Way Into Your Home Without a Warrant or Probable Cause
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[Culley v. Marshall Said No Prompt Hearing Required. State Legislatures Are Saying Otherwise in 2026.](/article/culley-v-marshall-state-forfeiture-reforms-2026)
Sources
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Hunter v. United States, No. 24-1063 (slip opinion, June 18, 2026)
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Hunter v. United States, Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law)
Note: This article contains AI-assisted content and has been reviewed by our editorial team.
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