Ellingburg v. United States · ¶26
The Constitution twice prohibits ex post facto laws. As to the Federal Government, it provides that “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.” Art. I, §9, cl. 3. As to the States, it provides that “No State shall . . . pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.” Art. I, §10, cl. 1. In its general sense, a law is ex post facto—meaning “after the fact”— when it applies retroactively to conduct that occurred before the law was enacted. The two Ex Post Facto Clauses reflected the importance of the protection to the Founding Fathers. James Iredell believed that the protection against ex post facto laws was “the most essential right of all,” which was worth “ten thousand declarations of rights” without it. Answers to Mr. Mason’s Objections to the New Constitution, in Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States 334, 368…Read in context ›
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