Right Against Ex Post Facto Law and Bill of Attainder (Sec. 22, Art.

III)
An ex post facto law is a law which operates retroactively and makes an act done before its passage, innocent when done, criminal, or makes the crime greater than when it was committed, or inflicts a greater punishment than what the law provided to the crime when it was committed, or alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less testimony than what the law required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to convict the offender. In general, criminal laws cannot be given retroactive effect. But if it is favorable to the accused, it should be should be given retroactive effect. A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without a judicial trial.
Ex Post Facto is Latin, which literally means from a thing done afterward. An Ex Post Facto Law essentially changes the legal consequences of actions committed PRIOR to its enactment. In substance, it is retroactive in nature. The archaic definition of a Bill of Attainder is a special legislative act that imposes a death sentence on a person without trial. Traditionally, it is described as a special legislative act prescribing punishment without a trial for a specific person or group. A Bill of Attainder is technically a form of class legislation that targets particular groups or names individuals. This is in violation of both the due process clause and equal protection clause of theConstitution. For your legal awareness, the following are types of Ex Post Facto Laws: Ex Post Facto Law Type 1: One which makes an action done before the passing of the law - and which was innocent when done criminal, and punishes such action; Ex Post Facto Law Type 2: One which aggravates a crime or makes it greater than when it was committed; Ex Post Facto Law Type 3: One which changes the punishment, and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime when it was committed; Ex Post Facto Law Type 4: One which alters the legal rules of evidence, and receives less or different testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to convict the defendant; Ex Post Facto Law Type 5: One that assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only, but in effect, imposes a penalty or deprivation of a right which when done was lawful; Ex Post Facto Law Type 6: One which deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has become entitled such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a proclamation of amnesty. For your legal awareness, the following are requisites of a Bill of Attainder: Bill of Attainder Requisite 1: There must be legislation. Bill of Attainder Requisite 2: The legislation imposes a penal burden on a named individual, or easily ascertainable members of a group. Bill of Attainder Requisite 3: The penal burden is imposed directly by legislation without judicial trial. Bill of Attainder is in violation of due process: A Bill of Attainder, basically, does not satisfy the 2 kinds of due processrequired concurrently by the Constitution: a) procedural due process, which in essence, was expressed by Daniel Webster as a law which hears before it condemns; and b) substantive due process which is a prohibition of arbitrary legislation. Both due process clauses are mandatory.

What is the difference between an ex post facto law and a bill of attainder?
An ex post facto law makes something you did in the past, that was perfectly legal when you did it, and makes it illegal. For example (and not to drag in politics) let's say you smoke cigarets. Then your local state legislature passes a law making using cigarets illegal--as of a year ago, and you get arrested for having smoked during the past year. A bill of attainder makes simply being a particular person illegal. It was widely used in England and Scotland when the local lords were trying to gain power over one another. One would go to the King and suggest that if Baron so and so were outlawed by a bill of attainder, they could split his possessions. An example would be if Congress were to pass a law saying that Osama bin Laden is illegal. (Of course, they got enough on him anyway.) An ex post facto (which litereally means "after the fact) law is a law which subjects a person to criminal liability for actions taken before the law was passed at a time when the conduct was not illegal. A bill of attainder is a law which punishes not only the lawbreaker but his descendants as well. Both are prohibited in the U.S. Constitution because both are fundamentally unfair and constitute abuse of governmental power.