By Steve Klepper

For attorneys on the Fourth Circuit Criminal Justice Act appellate panel, no issue arises more frequently than the scope of appellate waivers in plea agreements. And no issue leads to more Anders briefs when appointed counsel identifies no potentially meritorious legal issue.

Today the Supreme Court of the United States issued an 8-to-1 opinion, Hunter v. United States, which is likely to become one of the most-cited cases in the country. Justice Kagan’s opinion for the Court recognized the “miscarriage of justice” exception to enforceability of appeal waivers: