bill of attainder

bill of attainder
Bills of attainder.
Such special acts of the legislature as inflict capital punishments upon persons supposed to be guilty of high offenses, such as treason and felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.
If an act inflicts a milder degree of punishment than death, it is called a "bill of pains and penalties," but both are included in the prohibition in the Constitution (Art. I, Sec. 9). Losier v. Sherman, 157 Kan. 153, 138 P.2d 272, 273; State v. Graves, 352 Mo. 1102, 182 S.W.2d 46, 54.
See also bill
bill of attainder
Criminal law
Legislative acts, no matter what their form, that apply either to named individuals or to easily ascertainable members of a group in such a way as to inflict punishment on them without a judicial trial. United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 448-49, 85 S.Ct. 1707, 1715, 14 L.Ed. 484, 492; United States v. Lovett, 328 U.S. 303, 315, 66 S.Ct. 1073, 1079, 90 L.Ed. 1252.
An act is a "bill of attainder" when the punishment is death and a "bill of pains and penalties" when the punishment is less severe; both kinds of punishment fall within the scope of the constitutional prohibition. U.S.Const. Art. I, Sec. 9, Cl. 3 (as to Congress); Art. I, Sec. 10 (as to state legislatures)

Black's law dictionary. . 1990.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • bill of attainder — see bill 1 Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. bill of attainder n …   Law dictionary

  • Bill of attainder — Attainder At*tain der, n. [OF. ataindre, ateindre, to accuse, convict. Attainder is often erroneously referred to F. teindre tie stain. See {Attaint}, {Attain}.] 1. The act of attainting, or the state of being attainted; the extinction of the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bill of attainder — (Act of attainder, engl., spr. ättēnder, Strafbill), in England ein Ausnahmegesetz, durch welches das Parlament in einzelnen Fällen die Befugnis erhält, eine bestimmte Person ohne gerichtliches Verfahren selbst zur Untersuchung zu ziehen und zu… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Bill of Attainder — Bill of At|tain|der [ əv ə teində] die; , s <aus engl. bill of attainder »Ächtungsurkunde«>: 1. in Großbritannien alte Form der Anklage politischer u. schwerer Verbrechen im Gesetzgebungsverfahren unter Verlust der bürgerl. Ehrenrechte u.… …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • bill of attainder — n. a legislative enactment by which a person is pronounced guilty, without trial, of an alleged crime, orig. a capital crime, esp. treason: prohibited in the U.S. by the Constitution …   English World dictionary

  • Bill of attainder — A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of attainder) is an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. The United States Constitution forbids both the… …   Wikipedia

  • Bill of Attainder — Unter einer Bill of Attainder (auch Act oder Writ of Attainder) verstand man im englischen Common Law eine strafrechtliche Verurteilung einer Person durch das Parlament. Das Parlament agierte bei dem Verfahren, von dem nur in äußerst seltenen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bill d'attainder — En droit anglais, un bill d attainder[1] (anglais bill of attainder, act of attainder, writ of attainder) est un acte législatif qui déclare une personne ou un groupe de personnes coupable d un crime et le punit sans procès. La constitution des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • bill of attainder — Bills of attainder. Such special acts of the legislature as inflict capital punishments upon persons supposed to be guilty of high offenses, such as treason and felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. If an… …   Black's law dictionary

  • bill of attainder — bill′ of attain′der n. gov a legislative act finding a person guilty of treason or felony without trial • Etymology: 1860–65 …   From formal English to slang

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