Post Casual Law

The Constitution of the United States, in Article I, prohibits Congress, and the states from enacting ex post facto laws (Brody & Acker, 2010). That is, laws cannot be passed, making an action illegal, and then be used to prosecute a person who had committed that act prior to the passage of the law. At the same time, laws that are changed, in such a manner as to increase the punishment for violations, cannot be applied to persons who have been previously convicted for violating that law. It is this meaning of ex post facto laws, which directly affects the criminal justice system. When we think of our system of laws, it is easy to see that all of the laws, which have been enacted, are in fact ex post facto laws (Duxbury, 2013). What I mean by this is that no legislative body has enacted laws without having a reason to do so. At some point in time, someone perpetrated an act, which others found to be offensive or heinous, and then the governing authority passed legislation making that act illegal. It is how the legal system enforces such laws, which is relevant to us.
For example, if a person were to drive backwards down the highway, and that action was not already deemed to be illegal, then the state cannot pass a law, which makes that act illegal, and then have the police come and charge that person with a crime. It was not a crime when they drove backwards, it was only after their action that a new law was created. The framers of the Constitution saw a need for prohibiting this type of action, on the part of the government, so that the government could not pass laws out of vindictiveness towards somebody (Brody & Acker, 2010). The same holds true for persons who have already been convicted of a crime, and are serving their