Hunter v. United States · ¶102

Accordingly, when defendants waive their statutory appeal rights in plea agreements, those waivers are enforceable. Given that defendants can waive constitutional rights gratuitously, they can certainly waive statutory rights in exchange for enforceable benefits in plea agreements—such as the sentencing recommendation in Santobello. And, if defendants are bound by gratuitous waivers, they can also be held to ones from which they benefted—such as the promise to testify in Ricketts. Bargained-for waivers of statutory rights thus not only are valid; they must be enforced to ensure that both sides to the agreement receive what they bargained for.A defendant who waives his statutory appeal right in a plea agreement is therefore “bound by the decision.” Garza, 586 U. S., at 257 (Thomas, J., dissenting).

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