Court Opinion

ID: 9482104
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:40:13.988358+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:45.720328
License: Public Domain

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment.
I concur in the judgment.
The majority opinion pursues with considerable eloquence and skill a subject in which its author has evinced a burning interest for a number of years. Cf. United States ex rel. Miller v. Greer, 789 F.2d 438, 448 (7th Cir.1986) (in banc) (Easterbrook, J., dissenting), rev’d on other grounds, 483 U.S. 756, 107 S.Ct. 3102, 97 L.Ed.2d 618 (1987); Hunter v. Clark, 934 F.2d 856, 865 (7th Cir.1991) (in banc) (Easterbrook, J., concurring).
In Hunter, our most recent in banc encounter with the problem of the standard for harmless constitutional error in collateral review, Judge Easterbrook was joined only by Judge Posner.
Judge Eschbach’s statement in United States ex rel. Savory v. Lane, 832 F.2d 1011, 1016-17 (7th Cir.1987), still accurately states Seventh Circuit law:
With respect to the admission of statements petitioner made to police without the benefit of the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), the standard for harmless error need not detain us long. Errors of constitutional magnitude are grounds for reversal unless they are “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); see also, e.g., United States ex rel. Miller v. Greer, 789 F.2d 438 (7th Cir.1986) (en banc), rev’d on other grounds, 483 U.S. 756, 107 S.Ct. 3102, 97 L.Ed.2d 618 (1987); see also United States ex rel. Allen v. Franzen, 659 F.2d 745, 748 (7th Cir.1981). While the state suggests that perhaps some other standard is appropriate to habeas corpus actions, the law in this circuit is plainly otherwise. Although the Supreme Court was presented with an opportunity to resolve this issue in Miller, it found it unnecessary to reach the issue, holding instead that there had been no constitutional violation at all. Accordingly, the “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt” standard remains the law in this circuit, even where the errors are challenged on collateral review.
Judge Wood in Hanrahan v. Thieret, 933 F.2d 1328, 1336, 1337 n. 17 (7th Cir.1991), endorses the same general position:
Constitutional error does not require automatic reversal. On the contrary, an otherwise valid conviction need not be set aside if the error is harmless. As the district court correctly stated, however, the standard is strict indeed. A court must be able to say confidently on the record that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman, 386 U.S. at 24, 87 S.Ct. at 828; United States v. Hill, 898 F.2d 72, 75 (7th Cir.1990).
The same opinion continues, “The Supreme Court has yet to overrule or formally modify Chapman ... and we must continue to respect its holding until that day.” Id. at 1337 n. 17.
*1377Given this precedent, I do not believe— whatever its merits — that this is an open question.