Retroactive Legislation

Question 1

Contract Clause

Answer 1

• limits the ability of STATE and LOCAL govs to enact laws that retroactively impair contract rights
  -> doesn’t affect contracts not yet made
• does NOT apply to fed gov (though flagrant violation would technically violate 5th Am DP)

Question 2

Contract Clause - Basic Impairment Rules - Private Contracts

Answer 2

• intermediate scrutiny

Legislation that substantially impairs an existing private contract is invalid UNLESS the legislation:
- serves an important and legitimate public interest, AND
- is a reasonable and narrowly tailored means of promoting that interest

Question 3

Basic Impairment Rules - Public Contracts

Answer 3

• heightened scrutiny
• Legislation that impairs a contract to which the state is a party is tested by the same basic test, BUT likely receives heightened scrutiny, especially if the legislation reduces contractual burdens on the state

Question 4

Ex Post Facto Laws

Answer 4

• ex post facto law = one that retroactively alters criminal offenses or punishments in a substantially prejudicial manner for the purpose of punishing a person for some past activity
  -> neither state nor fed gov may pass such laws
• due process clauses of 5th + 14th Ams similarly prohibit courts from retroactively interpreting criminal laws in an unexpected or indefensible way
• only applies to CRIMINAL cases

Question 5

Ex Post Facto Laws - What Counts

Answer 5

Statute retroactively alters a law in a substantially prejudicial manner if it:
- makes criminal an act that was innocent when done
- imposes a greater punishment for an act than was imposed for the act when it was done OR
- reduces the evidence required to convict a person of a crime from what was required when the act was committed

Question 6

Bills of Attainder

Answer 6

• legislative acts that inflict punishment on individuals without a judicial trial
• both fed + state/local govs are prohibited from passing bills of attainder

Question 7

Retroactive Laws and Due Process

Answer 7

• even if a law doesn’t violate the Contracts, Ex Post Facto, or Bill of Attainder Clauses, it still must pass muster under the Due Process Clause
• if it doesn’t substantially burden a fundamental right, it only needs to be rationally related to a legitimate government interest