Enabling "Bills of Attainder"
Despite prohibitions in Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, of the United States Constitution, we are heading in that direction...
Before the British Colonies in North America found it “necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,” Parliament and the Crown had at their disposal a tool called a “Bill of Attainder.” This tool allowed and enabled an extrajudicial declaration of guilt without due process of a trial or hearing. Punishment based on the declaration of guilt was often meted out as well, often with fatal results.
In the UK, no Bills of Attainder have been passed since 1820. In extremis, a Bill of Attainder nullified an individual’s civil rights, including the right to own property or to pass any bequests on to surviving heirs.
In the United States, the Constitutional prohibition on Bills of Attainder is part of the so-called “separation of powers,” firmly establishing that neither the Legislature nor Executive Branch officials (including the President) could overstep into the Judicial Branch’s unique milieu. The concept of “due process” was further codified in the Fifth Amendment.
Much has been made in the U.S. and global press of the possibility that individuals and classes of individuals will be rounded up and punished on the say-so of a certain individual, should he return to power and enjoy the support of a Congressional majority. I hope that doesn’t happen, as it will plunge us headlong into a situation ignorant of the Constitution and its safeguards of due process.