Legal Definitions - act of attainder

An act of attainder is synonymous with a bill of attainder. It refers to a legislative act that declares a person or a group of people guilty of a crime, most often treason, without the benefit of a judicial trial. This legislative declaration of guilt typically results in severe penalties, such as the forfeiture of property, loss of civil rights, and sometimes even death.

Such acts are generally prohibited in modern constitutional democracies, like the United States, because they bypass fundamental principles of due process, the separation of powers, and the right to a fair trial by an impartial judiciary. They represent a legislative encroachment on judicial power.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a historical scenario in a fictional kingdom where the Parliament, at the urging of the monarch, passes a specific law declaring a prominent noble, Lord Alistair, guilty of sedition. This law orders the immediate confiscation of all his estates and titles, and his banishment from the realm, all without any formal charges being brought against him in a court, no evidence presented to a judge or jury, and no opportunity for him to defend himself. This would be an act of attainder because the legislature (Parliament) is directly determining guilt and imposing punishment without a judicial process.

• Consider a hypothetical situation in a modern country where the national assembly, frustrated by a series of cyberattacks, passes a statute that specifically names a group of known hackers, "The Digital Shadows," as guilty of treason. The statute then mandates the immediate seizure of all their digital assets and bank accounts, and their indefinite detention, without any individual arrests, indictments, or trials in a court of law. This legislative action, bypassing the judiciary to declare guilt and impose penalties on a specific group, would constitute an act of attainder.

• Suppose a state legislature, in a moment of extreme public outrage over a particular environmental disaster, passes a special law declaring the CEO of the responsible corporation, Ms. Evelyn Reed, personally guilty of criminal negligence. The law then orders her immediate imprisonment and the forfeiture of her personal fortune to compensate victims, all without any charges being filed by a prosecutor or a trial taking place in a court. This direct legislative imposition of guilt and punishment on an identified individual, bypassing the judicial system, would be an act of attainder.