Retroactive Legislation Flashcards
Contract Clause
The Contract Clause limits the ability of STATE and LOCAL governments to enact LAWS that RETROACTIVELY impair contract rights. It does not apply to contracts not yet made.
There is no comparable clause applicable to the federal government, but flagrant contract impairment would violate the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause
Private Contracts (Contract Clause) Standard
Legislation that substantially impairs an existing private contract is invalid unless the legislation
1) serves an important and legitimate public interest; and
2) is a reasonable and narrowly tailored means of promoting that interest
Public Contracts (Contracts Clause) Standard
Legislation that impairs a contract to which the state is a party is tested by the same basic test as private contracts, but the legislation will likely receive heightened scrutiny, especially if the legislation reduces the contractual burdens on the state.
Ex Post Facto Laws
Neither states nor the federal government may pass an ex post facto law, which is a law that retroactively alters criminal offenses or punishments in a substantially prejudicial manner for the purpose of punishing a person for some past activity.
A statute retroactively alters a law in a substantially prejudicial manner if it
1) makes criminal an act that was innocent when done;
2) imposes a greater punishment for an act than was imposed for the act when it was done; or
3) reduces the evidence required to convict a person of a crime from what was required when the act was committed
NOTE- THIS ONLY APPLIES TO CRIMINAL CASES
Bills of Attainder
Bills of attainder are legislative acts that inflict punishment on individuals without a judicial trial. Both federal and state governments are prohibited from passing bills of attainder.
EX: a federal budget law that denied salary payments to federal employees that congress determined to be subversive
