The Ex Post Facto Clause: Its History and Role in a Punitive Society (STUDIES CRIME AMD PUBLIC POLICY SERIES)

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Overview

This volume provides the first book-length, modern-era examination of the Ex Post Facto Clause, contained in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, and its role in tempering the penal populism of American legislatures. As one of the few rights specified in the body of the Constitution itself, the Clause was intended, as James Madison put it, to serve as a bulwark" against the tendency of legislatures to enact retroactive laws increasing or imposing new burdens on disdained individuals. For the first several decades of the nation's history, the Supreme Court enforced the Clause with vigor, for instance invalidating retroactive laws enacted after the Civil War targeting supporters of the Confederacy. Today, however, the Clause is a hollowed out shell of its former self, reflecting and enabling the nation's shift toward politically popular tough-on-crime policies. The book chronicles this evolution and provides a blueprint for how the Ex Post Facto Clause can be restored to its rightful place as a bulwark against the punitive impulses of modern-day legislators, whether state or federal"--