Also known as:bills of attainder clause · Bill of Attainder · attainder clause · bill of attainder prohibition
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional prohibition that bars Congress and state legislatures from enacting laws that single out identifiable individuals or groups for punishment without the protections of a judicial trial. The clause implements separation of powers by reserving determinations of guilt and imposition of sanctions to the courts rather than the legislature. It applies whether the measure is labeled civil or criminal and whether the targeted class is named expressly or defined by readily ascertainable past conduct.
Sources & Authorities· 3 primary sources
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Cases
Casebooks
How it applies
Common Examples
6
State Bar on Named Contractors
State A enacts a statute that expressly names Silver Construct and its owner Sara and permanently bars them from bidding on state contracts based on prior administrative investigations that ended without adjudication. Silver Construct sues, arguing the statute singles them out for a punitive disability without trial. The court holds the measure violates the Bill of Attainder Clause because the legislature itself determined guilt and imposed an irreversible sanction on identified persons.
Federal Surcharge on Listed Executives
Congress passes a statute directing the SEC to impose a 15 percent income surcharge and a ten-year contract bar on owners and executives of companies named in a 1995 contamination report. Saul, a former plant manager who left before the discharges ended, is included on the list. Saul sues, claiming the law legislatively punishes an ascertainable group without judicial process. The court finds a violation because the statute targets specific persons based on past conduct and denies any hearing.
Legislative Disqualification of Law Firms
Congress enacts a statute naming any law firm that represented claimants against a federal dam project and barring those firms from federal court practice for five years. RiverWatch Legal Collective, which handled such claims, challenges the law. The court invalidates the statute because it identifies a narrow class and inflicts a professional disability by legislative fiat rather than through adjudication.
State Port Ban on Shipping Companies
A coastal state passes a statute naming shipping companies previously fined for environmental violations and barring them from state ports for ten years while canceling their existing dockage contracts. OceanBlue Shipping, one of the named firms, seeks an injunction. The court rules the statute unconstitutional because it singles out identified parties for punishment without judicial proceedings.
Federal Employment Bar on Named Managers
Congress enacts a statute naming large retail chains and automatically barring their former loss-prevention managers who underreported theft from working in retail for fifteen years. Brock, who once held such a position at a listed chain, is affected. He sues, contending the law determines guilt legislatively. The court agrees the measure violates the clause because it imposes a lasting occupational disability on an ascertainable group without trial.
Legislative Exclusion from Federal Venues
Congress passes a law naming athletes who competed for Alpha Champions during investigated seasons and barring them from federally funded stadiums. Kiara, an athlete covered by the statute, challenges the exclusion. The court holds the statute unconstitutional because it targets specific individuals for a punitive deprivation of access without any judicial determination of wrongdoing.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
4
What three elements must a plaintiff establish to prove a bill of attainder violation?+
A plaintiff must show that the statute singles out an identifiable individual or easily ascertainable group, that it inflicts punishment, and that the punishment is imposed without the protections of a judicial trial. Courts examine whether the measure names parties expressly or by reference to past conduct and whether the disability resembles traditional forms of legislative punishment such as occupational disqualification or loss of contractual rights.
Supporting sources
Does a statute's stated regulatory purpose prevent it from being a bill of attainder?
No. A legislative declaration that the measure protects public funds or deters future harm does not save the statute if it still singles out identified persons and imposes irreversible disabilities without judicial process. Courts look past labels to whether the law functions as legislative punishment of an ascertainable class.
Supporting sources
Can a state law that cancels existing contracts with named parties also violate the Bill of Attainder Clause?+
Yes. When a statute both identifies specific parties by past conduct and nullifies their contractual rights by legislative act, it satisfies the specificity and punishment elements of a bill of attainder claim in addition to raising a Contracts Clause issue.
Supporting sources
Does the Bill of Attainder Clause apply only to criminal sanctions?+
No. The clause reaches civil disabilities such as occupational disqualification, loss of access to public facilities, and contract termination when those measures are imposed legislatively on identified persons without trial.
Supporting sources
Bill of Attainder
, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility." U. S. Const., Art. I, § 10. Unlike other provisions in the section, it is well settled…
bill of attainder
or ex post facto law shall be passed.” No language can be more general; yet the demonstration is complete that it applies solely to the government of the United States. In addition to the…
); Shapiro v. United States , 107 Ct. Cl. 650, 69 F. Supp. 205 (military due process). In none of these cases, nor in others, could it well be suggested that the Court of Claims had…
Constitutional LawIndividual rights · Other protections, including the privileges and immunities clauses, the contracts clause, unconstitutional conditions, bills of attainder, and ex post facto lawsUBEFoundational