Why is bills of attainder important

Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Issues The U. Government U. Legal System U. Foreign Policy U. Liberal Politics U. Robert Longley. History and Government Expert. Robert Longley is a U. Facebook Facebook. Updated October 03, Key Takeaways: Bills of Attainder Bills of attainder, or ex-post-facto laws, are acts of Congress that declare a person or persons guilty of a crime without a trial or judicial hearing.

Arbitrary British enforcement of bills of attainder on American colonists was a motivation for the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. As direct denials of civil rights and liberties, bills of attainder are prohibited by Article I, Section 9 of the U. The individual U.

Cite this Article Format. Longley, Robert. Lovett, U. That the Court has applied the clause dynamically is revealed by a consideration of the three cases in which acts of Congress have been struck down as violating it. In Ex parte Garland , 6 Footnote 71 U. The statute, and a state constitutional amendment requiring a similar oath of persons before they could practice certain professions, 7 Footnote Cummings v.

Then, in United States v. Brown , 9 Footnote U. It was impermissible, however, for Congress to designate a class of persons—members of the Communist Party—as being forbidden to hold union office. However, in United States v. Robel, U. The dissenters viewed the statute as merely expressing in shorthand the characteristics of those persons who were likely to utilize union responsibilities to accomplish harmful acts; Congress could validly conclude that all members of the Communist Party possessed those characteristics.

The majority's decision in Brown cast in doubt certain statutes and certain statutory formulations that had been held not to constitute bills of attainder. For example, a predecessor of the statute struck down in Brown , which had conditioned a union's access to the NLRB upon the filing of affidavits by all of the union's officers attesting that they were not members of or affiliated with the Communist Party, had been upheld, 12 Footnote American Communications Ass'n v.

Douds, U. The statute there forbade any partner or employee of a firm primarily engaged in underwriting securities from being a director of a national bank. Chief Justice Warren distinguished the prior decision and the statute on three grounds from the statute then under consideration. The clause also serves, in conjunction with the prohibition of bills of attainder, as a safeguard against the historic practice of passing laws to punish particular individuals because of their political beliefs.

Today, there are four remaining relevant powers denied to Congress in the U. Table of Contents. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.

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