Criminal Defendants' Waiver of the Right to Appeal -- An Unacceptable Condition of a Negotiated Sentence or Plea Bargain

• NCJ Number: 126421
• Journal: Notre Dame Law Review Volume: 65 Issue: 4 Dated: (1990) Pages: 649-670
• Author(s): G M Dyer; B Judge
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The waiver of a criminal defendant's right to appeal is an unacceptable condition of a sentence or plea bargain.

Abstract

The practice of conditioning the acceptance of sentence or plea bargains upon defendants waiving their rights to appeal represents a systemic deprivation of defendants' rights to have their convictions reviewed. Consequently, it violates the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment. The right to appeal a criminal conviction has become too integral a part of the criminal justice system to be sacrificed in the name of "efficiency." Courts should hold that such waivers are invalid. At present, this is a minority view. The courts that have yet to address the issue of permitting appeal waivers should recognize that the right to appeal a criminal conviction has taken on added significance as a safeguard in a system that depends so heavily upon plea-based convictions for its administration. 159 notes