Two recent Supreme Court rulings have prompted Justice Neil Gorsuch to urge the Court to reconsider key legal precedents that he says have weakened civil liberties in the United States.

In one case, the Court ruled that "an agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice." This decision involved Hunter III, who was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting wire fraud. His sentence included a requirement to undergo psychiatric treatment and take prescribed mental health medications. The Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit had barred Hunter from challenging the forced medication condition, citing his waiver of rights upon pleading guilty. However, the Supreme Court allowed Hunter to argue that forced medication constitutes a miscarriage of justice because it is unconstitutional.

Justice Gorsuch agreed with the outcomes but wrote separately to emphasize broader concerns. He criticized the Supreme Court's endorsement of coercive plea bargaining, noting that about 95 percent of felony convictions in the U.S. result from guilty pleas, often obtained under threat of harsher punishment for defendants exercising their Sixth Amendment rights. He described the modern criminal justice process as a "conveyor belt of plea bargains," which has largely replaced jury trials.

Gorsuch also challenged two longstanding Fourth Amendment doctrines. He condemned the 1967 test for determining a "reasonable expectation of privacy" as lacking constitutional basis and criticized the 1976 ruling that Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy when voluntarily sharing information with third parties. These doctrines, he argued, have compounded uncertainty about privacy rights.

Gorsuch's opinions highlight what he sees as "wrong turns" by the Court that have undermined civil liberties, calling for correction to better protect constitutional rights.

Sources