Bill of Attainder in the Light of the Constitution of the United States of America

Passing bills of attainder is explicitly prohibited by article I section 9 sentence 3 of the U.S. Constitution. In the article the author carries out analysis of U.S. case-law, as well as American doctrine of law, in order to decode the contemporary meaning of the notion “bill of attainder” in the U.S. Constitution. The article presents the development of the aforementioned concept chronologically, beginning with the Ancient Rome and Medieval England. The crux of the article is to embrace the evolution of the case-law of American courts: from the assessment of repression against defeated Confederates and legislative struggle against communism in 20th century, to the attempt to challenge contemporary economic legislation. Once the case-law has been analysed, the concise definition of bill of attainder is presented: it is a legislative act, which determines guilt and imposes a punishment on selected natural or legal persons, who are thereby deprived of judicial protection. The caselaw confirms as well that the assessment of punitive character of regulation should be made through the prism of three criteria (historical, functional and motivational).

Passing bills of attainder is explicitly prohibited by article I section 9 sentence 3 of the U.S. Constitution. In the article the author carries out analysis of U.S. case-law, as well as American doctrine of law, in order to decode the contemporary meaning of the notion “bill of attainder” in the U.S. Constitution. The article presents the development of the aforementioned concept chronologically, beginning with the Ancient Rome and Medieval England. The crux of the article is to embrace the evolution of the case-law of American courts: from the assessment of repression against defeated Confederates and legislative struggle against communism in 20th century, to the attempt to challenge contemporary economic legislation. Once the case-law has been analysed, the concise definition of bill of attainder is presented: it is a legislative act, which determines guilt and imposes a punishment on selected natural or legal persons, who are thereby deprived of judicial protection. The caselaw confirms as well that the assessment of punitive character of regulation should be made through the prism of three criteria (historical, functional and motivational).