| | In 2021, [[Congress]] summarized the limits imposed by the bill of attainder prohibition in the [[U.S. Constitution]]:<ref>https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10567#:~:text=The%20Bill%20of%20Attainder%20Clause%20prohibits%20Congress%20from%20enacting%20legislation,basis%20without%20a%20judicial%20trial.</ref> | | In 2021, [[Congress]] summarized the limits imposed by the bill of attainder prohibition in the [[U.S. Constitution]]:<ref>https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10567#:~:text=The%20Bill%20of%20Attainder%20Clause%20prohibits%20Congress%20from%20enacting%20legislation,basis%20without%20a%20judicial%20trial.</ref> |
| | {{cquote|Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution provides that Congress shall pass “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law.” AArticle I, Section 10, likewise prohibits the states from enacting bills of attainder. (Thus, there are two Bill of Attainder Clauses; this Sidebar uses the singular “Bill of Attainder Clause” to refer to the clause that binds Congress.) The Supreme Court has described a bill of attainder as “a law that legislatively determines guilt and inflicts punishment upon an identifiable individual without provision of the protections of a judicial trial.” Bills of attainder were common in England before the Founding, primarily targeting individuals accused of disloyalty to the government. Bills of attainder were also used in the American colonies. However, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution chose to depart from that historical practice. The Supreme Court has explained that the constitutional prohibitions on bills of attainder “reflect[] the Framers’ belief that the Legislative Branch is not so well suited as politically independent judges and juries to the task of ruling upon the blameworthiness of, and levying appropriate punishment upon, specific persons.” | | {{cquote|Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution provides that Congress shall pass “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law.” AArticle I, Section 10, likewise prohibits the states from enacting bills of attainder. (Thus, there are two Bill of Attainder Clauses; this Sidebar uses the singular “Bill of Attainder Clause” to refer to the clause that binds Congress.) The Supreme Court has described a bill of attainder as “a law that legislatively determines guilt and inflicts punishment upon an identifiable individual without provision of the protections of a judicial trial.” Bills of attainder were common in England before the Founding, primarily targeting individuals accused of disloyalty to the government. Bills of attainder were also used in the American colonies. However, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution chose to depart from that historical practice. The Supreme Court has explained that the constitutional prohibitions on bills of attainder “reflect[] the Framers’ belief that the Legislative Branch is not so well suited as politically independent judges and juries to the task of ruling upon the blameworthiness of, and levying appropriate punishment upon, specific persons.” |