: a legislative act that imposes punishment without a trial
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Other deletions included a provision allowing the slave trade to continue until 1808, a prohibition on bills of attainder, and several provisions detailing powers denied to states.—Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 6 Aug. 2025 The Constitution explicitly forbids Congress from issuing bills of attainder—laws that single out individuals for punishment without trial.—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025 It's decided who the defendant is — TikTok — and it's essentially adjudicated their guilt — guilt in a civil sense, not in a criminal sense — which is the mark of a bill of attainder.—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2024 In the court's ruling, Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, rejected TikTok's main legal arguments against the law, including that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder, or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment.—Haleluya Hadero The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 7 Dec. 2024 In response to the other constitutional argument TikTok is making, DOJ said the law is not a bill of attainder because addressing national security concerns is not a form of punishment and bills of attainder apply to people, not corporations.—Maria Curi, Axios, 27 July 2024 TikTok alleges violations of its First Amendment and Equal Protection rights, as well unconstitutional bill of attainder, which allows the government to declare a party culpable of a crime without a trial, and taking.—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 May 2024 Law professors who spoke to Ars last month correctly predicted that TikTok and ByteDance would raise objections under the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause, and the prohibition on bills of attainder.—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 7 May 2024 This broader remit avoids violating the Constitution’s bill of attainder clause, which prohibits legislation from imposing a punishment on a specific person or group of people without a trial.—Aynne Kokas, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2024
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