Definitions

bill of attainder

 Play bill of attainder
a legislative enactment by which a person, without benefit of a trial, is pronounced guilty of a crime, orig. a capital crime, esp. treason: prohibited in the U.S. by the Constitution

bill of attainder

noun

pl. bills of attainder
A legislative act that pronounces a person guilty of a crime and imposes an attainder. The US Constitution prohibits bills of attainder.

bill-of-attainder

Noun

(plural bills of attainder)

  1. (law) A legislative determination imposing punishment without trial; prohibited under the United States Constitution.

bill of attainder - Legal Definition

n

  1. Any legislative act that imposed a sentence of death and attainder upon one or more specific individuals or groups without a trial or other judicial proceeding.
  2. In United States constitutional law, any legislative act that prescribes a punishment on one or more specific individuals or groups or denies them of civil or political rights without a trial or other judicial proceeding. Such enactments are prohibited by the United States Constitution. See also attainder, bill of pains and particulars, and civil death.

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Also Mentioned In


  • bill of pains and particulars
  • bills-of-attainder
  • constitutional right
  • legislative history
  • attainture
  • attainders
  • attaindered
  • fill-the-bill
  • attaintment
  • attaindre

Words near bill of attainder in the dictionary


  • bill-hooks
  • Bill Mauldin
  • Bill Moyers
  • bill obligatory
  • bill of attainder
  • bill of certiorari
  • bill of costs
  • bill-of-costs
  • bill-of-credit
  • bill of discovery

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