Bill of attainder

A bill of attainder (or act of attainder) was an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime, and punishing them, without benefit of a trial. The United States Constitution in Article 1 Section 9 explicitly forbids Congress to pass any bills of attainder, while they were abolished in the United Kingdom in 1870.

Related Topics:
Legislature - United States Constitution - Congress - United Kingdom - 1870

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The word "attainder", meaning "taintedness", is part of English common law. Under English law, a criminal condemned for some crime, usually treason, could be declared "attainted", meaning that his civil rights were nullified: he could no longer own property or pass property to his family by will or testament. His property would consequently revert to the Crown. Any peerage titles would also revert to the Crown. The convicted person might also be punished in other ways; for example, in the case of attainder for treason, he could be executed.

Related Topics:
"attainder" - Common law - Executed

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Bills of attainder evolved into a convenient way for the King to convict subjects of crimes, and confiscate their property, without the bother of a trial--and without the need for a conviction, or indeed any evidence at all.

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In some cases (at least regarding the peerage) the Crown would eventually re-grant the convicted peer's lands and titles to his heir. It was also possible, as political fortunes turned, for a bill of attainder to be reversed. This might even happen long after the convicted person was dead.

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The first use of attainder was in 1321 against the Earl of Winchester and the Earl of Gloucester, who both shared the name Hugh le Despenser, and the last in 1798 against Lord Edward FitzGerald for leading the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Related Topics:
1321 - Earl of Winchester - Earl of Gloucester - Hugh le Despenser - 1798 - Lord Edward FitzGerald - Irish Rebellion of 1798

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In Britain, those executed after the passing of Attainders include Thomas Cromwell (1540), Catherine Howard (1542), Thomas Howard (1572), Thomas Wentworth (1641), and the Duke of Monmouth. In the case of Catherine Howard, in 1541 King Henry VIII was the first monarch to delegate Royal Assent, to avoid having to assent personally to the act. During the English Civil War the use of attainder was also extended to people who were already dead, as a mechanism for seizing their property.

Related Topics:
Britain - Thomas Cromwell - Catherine Howard - Thomas Howard - Thomas Wentworth - Duke of Monmouth - 1541 - Henry VIII - Royal Assent - English Civil War

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