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Ex post facto refers to laws enacted after a crime or action has already been taken. It can make people guilty of breaking laws enforced retrospectively, and can toughen punishments for crimes. In the US, ex post application of tougher laws to previously convicted felons is generally not permitted, but laws requiring sex offender registration can be applied ex post. Sometimes a law can be changed ex post which makes a previously illegal act legal.
Ex post facto is Latin for “after the fact,” or something changed after an act. It often refers to laws enacted after a crime or action has already been taken. This would make some people guilty of breaking the laws enforced retrospectively, even if their actions weren’t considered illegal at the time they were taken.
In many cases, an ex post or retroactive statute does not allow a court to find someone guilty of conduct contrary to a statute prior to its inception. More often than not, this type of law could toughen punishments for crimes, and if the law is changed before a suspect goes to trial, he or she could be subject to harsher punishments than previously expected.
Often, however, the ex post application of tougher laws to previously convicted felons is generally not permitted in the United States. This can disturb victims of criminals who appear to have been released too soon after a crime. While public sentiment may side with the victim, a criminal’s sentence generally cannot be changed due to such a law.
Countries with a well-established bill of rights are less likely to allow ex post facto laws to allow for the prosecution of those whose actions were lawful before the law was changed. Also, those who have been prosecuted are unlikely to have their sentence changed if the punishment changes due to this type of law.
There are some exceptions in US law. Laws requiring sex offender registration can be applied ex post to convicted offenders before the law was instituted. Proponents of this type of enforcement argue that such laws further protect the safety of the general public. Opponents of enforcing post-registration laws argue that convicts’ initial punishment did not include registration, and is therefore outside the court’s rights to require it.
Sometimes a law can be changed ex post which makes a previously illegal act legal. For example, Vietnam War evaders were granted amnesty, thus making their failure to register for the draft, or fail to answer the call, no longer an illegal act. As a result, some people who had been living in hiding after failing to respond adequately to US military services were now no longer criminals and could resume normal life.
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