Article 1, Section 9, Paragraphs 1-3
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Retrospect Incriminations
God's Law is all-encompassing always.
This is a very important law in regards to America. No laws are to be Bills of Attainder or laws made to make someone guilty of a crime without a trial of treason or felony. No laws are to be made ex post facto or after the fact. The Legislature cannot make up new laws in order to punish something that has already happened.
Augustus Garland
Augustus Garland used this law to remove a ban on his serving as a lawyer after the Civil War. The Congress had made such a ban in 1865 and debarred all who had served in the Confederate Government. By taking his case to the Supreme Court and showing that the law was an ex post facto law, he was reinstated to the bar. He later became a Senator and Governor for Arkansas (Lagass, P., & Columbia University. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York; Detroit: Columbia University Press; Sold and distributed by Gale Group, 2000).
It is taught that Psalm 58 was penned by David after the Elders had passed a "Bill of Attainder" for Saul, finding David guilty without a trial or a chance for David to defend himself. David prays that such leaders would be violently destroyed.
Judges 20-21 gives an example of an "un-Constitutional" type of situation. A woman was raped and brutalized and left for dead. Israel met to try the matter, and the accused refused to come forward. To make matters worse, the whole tribe of Benjamin harbored these men and refused to deliver them to due process. In this situation, Israel could not ignore the crime due to its heinous nature. It escalated into civil war. Israel sought to avoid war, and reassessed things each day. This story gives us an example of how sin should never be allowed to be harbored. If it is, governments must fight to bring all involved to justice.
An example of such principles being violated is found when Levi and Simeon went and killed all the men of Shechem for what the prince did to their sister in Genesis 34. There was no trial, no government action, no pursuing channels of justice, just the hot action of two men. Jacob bemoaned the situation because it would bring a social stigma of rashness to their family.
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