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Structurally Harmless: Why Brecht Should Apply on Collateral Review of Structural Errors
No full textEven when a prisoner has overcome all of AEDPA’s requirements and the Supreme Court’s equitable bars to relief, the writ of habeas corpus may issue only as “law and justice” require. The Court has recognized in recent Terms that the habeas statute thus confers on courts discretion to deny relief notwithstanding the satisfactions of the statutory and equitable preconditions. This discretion, the Court has said, is not boundless. A judge may grant the writ only after considering the principles of finality and federalism. Whatever else that includes, the Supreme Court has made clear that a judge must apply Brecht’s harmlessness standard before granting relief.
The Supreme Court, however, has not yet clarified whether courts must apply Brecht to cases involving structural error—i.e., error that is not susceptible to harmlessness review on direct appeal. The lower federal courts continue to forego a Brecht analysis on collateral review when an error is structural.
Those courts are wrong. This Essay explains why cases involving structural error must nevertheless be subject to Brecht’s harmlessness standard on collateral review. In so doing, this Essay explains how Brecht fits into both the historical and modern trajectory of habeas jurisprudence. It further illuminates why applying the structural-error doctrine on collateral review vitiates the principles of finality and state sovereignty that habeas is meant to protect. And it concludes by showing why applying Brecht on collateral review does not undermine the institutional justifications for the structural-error doctrine
Clinic Information Session
No full textTuesday, October 14, 2025 | 12:30 PM | Eck Hall of Law, Room 1130
Do you have questions about clinics and whether it makes sense for you to take one? Come to the Clinic Information Session on October 14th to meet with clinical faculty and ask your questions. Food will be provided.
Sponsor: Notre Dame Law Schoolhttps://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndls_posters/2175/thumbnail.jp
Office Hours with Doug Thompson
No full textMonday, October 27, 2025 | 12:30 PM | Eck Hall of Law, Room 2171
All students are invited to stop by and chat with the University\u27s Executive Director of Belonging and Engagement Doug Thompson. Doug\u27s office in University Student Affairs aims to nurture belonging and inclusion among all students while further engaging underrepresented voices throughout the Notre Dame community. Doug will be in Eck 2171 holding open office hours from 12:30 - 1:30 on Monday, October 27. All are welcome to stop by!
Sponsor: Notre Dame Law Schoolhttps://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndls_posters/2178/thumbnail.jp
What Is Voting For?
No full textResponding to these views requires some reflection on the nature of voting and parenting both. At root, Stephanopoulos and Fishkin don’t think parents are the right people to represent their children politically, and we do. We unpack these theoretical differences as to both voting and parenting in Part I. In Part II, we address Stephanopoulos’s and Fishkin’s concrete policy proposals.
A last note: While our response below naturally focuses on points of disagreement, as that is the way of these things, that focus shouldn’t detract from the crucial fact that all four of us—from different political perspectives—think the status quo tilts politics in ways that hurt children and should be changed. The discussion below also shouldn’t detract from our gratitude to these two extraordinary scholars for giving us the benefit of their serious engagement
AI Ethics
No full textWednesday, November 12, 2025 | 12:30 PM | Eck Hall of Law, Room 1140
Join the Business Legal Forum and Middle Eastern Law Student Association for a fireside chat style talk with IBM Vice President and Associate General Counsel. She will discuss AI Ethics and governance as well as her strong commitment to social impact, service, and inclusivity. Lunch will be served!
Sponsors: Business Legal Forum Middle Eastern Law Student Associationhttps://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndls_posters/2198/thumbnail.jp
Indiana Court of Appeals Oral Argument
No full textMonday, November 10, 2025 | 12:30 PM | Eck Hall of Law, McCartan Courtroom
Join us on November 10th 12:30 p.m. as the Indiana Court of Appeals holds oral arguments in Kyle Kaszuba and Tesla, Inc. v. AnnaMarie Dugan Norris, as Guardian of the Estate of Christopher Dugan (Case No. 25A-CT-198).
Sponsor: Notre Dame Law Schoolhttps://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndls_posters/2194/thumbnail.jp
Religious Liberty, Immigration, and the Catholic Church
No full textMonday, November 17, 2025 | 12:30 PM | Eck Hall of Law, McCartan Courtroom
Join Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic for a lecture by Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Fort Wayne–South Bend and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty. Bishop Rhoades will explore the relationship between religious liberty and immigration in the United States, followed by an audience Q&A. *This is Galilee-approved.*
Sponsors: Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic Notre Dame Law Schoolhttps://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndls_posters/2204/thumbnail.jp
NDLS Communicator: Week of 11.24.25
No full textThe Latest News Four Notre Dame faculty invested as members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters Congratulations to Professor Derek Muller on being honored as a member of this year’s Notre Dame All-Faculty Team during Saturday\u27s Notre Dame football game. Chief Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., delivers the 2025 Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Bishop Kevin. C. Rhoades speaks to the law school about the Catholic Church\u27s teaching on immigration and religious freedom
Alumni News Notre Dame Alumna Carmen Haydeé López Runs for Congress in Honduras
Faculty Briefs Rick Garnett Mary Ellen O\u27Connell Paolo Carozza Fr. John Paul Kimes Haley Proctor Jen McAward Meredith Kessler Lloyd Mayer Derek Muller Professor Mark Hill KC
ND Law in the News
The Law School event with Bishop Kevin Rhoades was featured in The Observer.
The Notre Dame Education Law Project was listed as a supporter of the defendants in the lawsuit against Idaho HB 93.
The Diocese of Kalamazoo featured the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic in the Fall 2025 edition of its diocesan magazine.
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