ReSearching for the Common Good: Madeline Ward

January 14, 2026

As an interdisciplinary academic institute, the Institute for Social Concerns leverages research to respond to the complex demands of justice and to serve the common good. This series, ReSearching for the Common Good, highlights some of the scholars in our community.

Madeline Ward is a J.D. candidate at Notre Dame Law School and 2025–26 Graduate Justice Fellow at the institute. She previously received her B.A. in political science and ACMS at Notre Dame with minors in peace studies from the Kroc Institute and Catholic social tradition from the Institute for Social Concerns, where she was also involved in a summer fellowship at Nazareth Farm in Doddridge County, West Virginia.

What is the focus of your current research?

As a law student, my research is primarily clinical and hands-on. I am currently working with the Exoneration Justice Clinic, where we represent individuals who have been wrongfully convicted. I am currently part of teams working on two of our cases in Elkhart, Indiana, involving individuals who were wrongfully convicted under the same prosecutor and police department. For cases like these in the post-conviction stage, we investigate applications from prison, determine if a claim of innocence has merit, and work to overturn the convictions.

In addition to clinic work, I am finishing a project on harm reduction as a response to drug use, and next semester I will begin a partnership with the Mass Incarceration Research Lab—one of the institute’s Justice Labs—and Professor Jimmy Gurulé to study the history of the death penalty in Indiana and what it means for the state going forward after it recently restarted executions for state-level offenses after a 15-year pause.

How did you get interested in pursuing justice through a law degree?

My path to Notre Dame began in middle school, inspired by a teacher from the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. As an undergrad here, I became deeply involved in the programming at the Institute for Social Concerns and the Catholic Social Tradition (CST) minor. CST provided me with the language and framework to turn my faith into action. 

After graduating, I spent two years at Nazareth Farm, a nonprofit Catholic community in West Virginia where I had previously done a summer fellowship through the institute. Living in an intentional community focused on justice taught me that change happens on the ground, through relationships. During this time, I realized I wanted to be more effective in my advocacy for justice, which for me meant returning to South Bend—a place where I already had a strong community—to study law at Notre Dame.

How do you see your research contributing to the common good?

I see my research as a lawyer as a tool for systemic change. My work with the Exoneration Justice Clinic has shown me the reward of helping individuals regain their freedom, but it has also highlighted the need for broader advocacy. We cannot only focus on the innocent; the legal system needs to provide quality representation for everyone. I want to use my understanding of how these systems function to actively dismantle their most unjust components. For me, the goal is not so much to end up at a prestigious law firm as it is to ensure that my legal education directly contributes to a more just and equitable world.

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