Hunter v. United States · ¶71

So far, the government has offered no colorable explanation why a defendant's prospective waiver of his statutory right to appeal his sentence should be treated differently. The government stresses that a criminal defendant “may always choose not to appeal” his sentence. Brief for United States 22. But a litigant may also choose not to exercise his right to remove an existing case to federal court or bring suit to vindicate a Title VII or antitrust injury. And none of that has prevented us from calling prospective waivers void in those contexts. The government also contends that prospectively waiving the right to appeal a sentence does not “implicate broader social interests that form part of [an] unalterable statutory policy.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted). But it's hard to see on what basis we might conclude that the Sentencing Reform Act's promise to defendants that they…

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