Connecticut v. Johnson

Chief Justice Burger,

dissenting.

I join Justice Powell’s dissenting opinion, and write separately only to emphasize that the Court today does not adopt a rule of automatic reversal for Sandstrom error. Only four Justices would adopt a rule requiring reversal for Sandstrom error, whether harmless or not, in all cases. Such a rule is contrary to this Court’s holding, with only one dissent, in Chapman v. California, 386 U. S. 18, 21-22 (1967), which rejected a rule of automatic reversal for all constitutional errors.