Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

2016 Postmortem

madamesilverspurs

(15,800 posts) Fri Jan 29, 2016, 07:52 PM Jan 2016

Constitutional question:

Does the U.S. Constitution prohibit ex post facto legal action?
.
.
.

1 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Constitutional question: (Original Post) madamesilverspurs Jan 2016 OP

Define "ex post facto legal action" jberryhill Jan 2016 #1

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)

1. Define "ex post facto legal action"

Reply to madamesilverspurs (Original post)

Fri Jan 29, 2016, 08:09 PM

Jan 2016

What do you mean by that?

An ex post facto law is one which on its face makes something you did last week illegal, and purports to make you criminally liable for it.

For example, last week you spit on the sidewalk. This week, we make it illegal to have ever spit on the sidewalk, and we arrest you for spitting on the sidewalk last week. That kind of thing is prohibited.

Reply to this discussion