Ex Post Facto Clause

Ex Post Facto Clause

Definition

[U.S. Const., Article I, § 9, cl. 3; Article I, § 10, cl. 1] Prohibits Congress and the states from enacting criminal laws that apply retroactively in one or more of the following ways: makes an action criminal that was not criminal when committed; increases the seriousness of a crime or the severity of the punishment; changes the rules of evidence in a manner that makes it easier to convict a defendant.

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