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59 UC Davis L. Rev. 1 (2025-2026)

handle is hein.journals/davlr59 and id is 1 raw text is: UC DAVIS LAW REVIEW VO 59 NO. 1 NOVME 202 5 A More Luminous Beacon WilliamM M Kamin* Abstract: Over theSupremeCourt'spastfour Terms, federalpostconviction habeas corpus has been placed on the chopping-blxk Its fate hangs in the balance of an historical debate over the maxim, oft redted by the Court between 1830-1953, that pstconviction habeas reaches only jurisdictional defects - as opposed to mere error - on the part ofthe convicting court. Justices Gorsuch and Thomas maintain that jurisdiction carried then the same narrow meaning it does now- power ab initio over the offense charged and the defendant's person. Justices Kagan and Jackson contend that, in this context, jurisdictional defect was understwod bradly enough to encompass any error of federal constitutional (or perhaps even statutory) law * Copyright © 2025 William M. M. Kamin. Visiting Associate Professor of Law (2025-2026), University of Notre Dame Law School; Assistant Professor of Law, The Catholic University ofAmerica, Columbus School of Law. J.D. Yale, 2020; B.A. Amherst, 2015. For invaluable advice, comments, and encouragement, I am grateful to J. Joel Alicea, Jud Campbell, Marc O. DeGirolami, Robert A. Destro, Nathaniel Donahue, Eric M. Freedman, Sherif Girgis, Paul D. Halliday, Blair D. Kamin, Emma Kaufman, David H. Kinnaird, Catherine F. Klein, Barbara A. Mahany, Paul B. Miller, Trevor W. Morrisson, Julian Davis Mortenson, Antonio F. Perez, Jeffrey A. Pojanowski, Micah S. Quigley, Christopher S. Ross, Natalie R. Schmidt, Heidi M. Schooner, Lucia A. Silecchia, Adam J. Smith, Chad C. Squitieri, Hon. Richard J. Sullivan, Kevin C. Walsh, and Derek A. Webb; as well as the participants in workshops at Cornell Law School, George Washington University Law School, and the University of Surrey School of Law. I also thank Andy Lewis and Lucy Koch for their sterling research assistance; and Jack T. Bertrand, Devon L. Siebels, Robert A. Corona Jr., and other editors of the UC Davis Law Review for their hard work on preparing this piece for publication. All errors are my own. 1