This expression right or wrong>
2007-07-21 22:59:08 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
negative it is a law that states if you do something yesterday and they passed a law against it today saying it was illegal to do it then you would be covered under that law
break down the word ex= be for, post = announcing, facto = fact
2007-07-21 23:04:07 · answer #1 · answered by Irish_alley 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Wrong.
An ex post facto law changes the punishment retroactively, after the crime has been committed.
This could either mean making something illegal when it was legal at the time, or increasing the possible punishment beyond what the sentence could have been at the time.
So, for example, say a crime is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. If the law was changed to make it a felony punishable by up to 10 years, and the courts tried to sentence you based on the new law (not what the law said when you did it) that would be an ex post fact ("after the fact") law.
In the US, ex post facto laws are prohibited by Article I Section 10 of the US Constitution.
2007-07-22 06:50:17 · answer #2 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pretty simply translated, ex post facto is Latin & means after the fact. Thus Irish_Alley has it right. The government cannot punish a person for violating a law that did not exist at the time of occurrence.
2007-07-22 06:12:36 · answer #3 · answered by XPig 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No it makes an act which was legal at time it was done, punishable at the current time.
2007-07-22 06:13:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
incorrect.
2007-07-22 07:01:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋