Opinion ID: 186088
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Functional Test

Text: 82 Under the second prong of the bill of attainder analysis, we must consider whether the law under challenge, viewed in terms of the type and severity of burdens imposed, reasonably can be said to further nonpunitive legislative purposes. Nixon, 433 U.S. at 475-76, 97 S.Ct. at 2806-07. Where such legitimate legislative purposes do not appear, it is reasonable to conclude that punishment of individuals disadvantaged by the enactment was the purpose of the decisionmakers. Id. at 476, 97 S.Ct. at 2807. Under this functional test, the nonpunitive aims must be sufficiently clear and convincing before a court will uphold a disputed statute against a bill of attainder challenge. BellSouth II, 162 F.3d at 686. 83 Courts have conducted this inquiry by examining both the purported ends of contested legislation and the means employed to achieve those ends. In Nixon, the Supreme Court rejected a bill of attainder challenge to an act directing the Administrator of General Services to take custody of the presidential papers and tape recordings of former President Nixon. 433 U.S. at 429, 97 S.Ct. at 2783. The Court found the objectives of the act, which included the need to preserve information necessary to the completion of Watergate-related prosecutions and the desire to safeguard documents of historical significance, to be legitimate justifications for its passage, id. at 476, 97 S.Ct. at 2807, that did not support[] an implication of a legislative policy designed to inflict punishment on an individual. Id. at 478, 97 S.Ct. at 2808. In addition, the Court noted aspects of the statute designed to protect the rights of the burdened party. Id. at 477, 97 S.Ct. at 2807. The Court therefore found the act to be a fair exercise of Congress' responsibility. Id. 84 More recently, in Selective Service System, the Court examined the constitutionality of a statute denying federal financial aid to male students who failed to register for the draft. 468 U.S. at 843, 104 S.Ct. at 3350. The Court first noted that the statute served the nonpunitive legislative goal of encouraging those required to register to do so. Id. at 854, 104 S.Ct. at 3356. The Court further examined whether the means employed in the statute — conditioning the receipt of federal aid on registration — was a rational means of achieving the goal. Id. Since the group of young men who must register for the draft overlaps in large part with the group of students who are eligible for [federal] aid, the Court found, Congress reasonably concluded that [the statute] would be a strong tonic to many nonregistrants. Id. The Court also found the scope of the legislation to be relevant under the functional test. Id. at 855, 104 S.Ct. at 3356. That the statute applied equally to unintentional violators, rather than singl[ing] out intentional nonregistrants, evinced the statute's nonpunitive spirit. Id. 85 Our own cases have emphasized the need for a legitimate nonpunitive purpose and a rational connection between the burden imposed and nonpunitive purposes of the legislation. In BellSouth II, we found that the challenged portion of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 did not inflict punishment because it was a rational means of serving a fair and legitimate nonpunitive purpose. See 162 F.3d at 686-90 (citing cases indicating the need for a meaningful nexus between the restriction imposed and the legitimate government purpose). We further noted that the differential treatment of the parties specified in the Act was neither suggestive of punitive purpose nor particularly suspicious. Id. at 690; see also BellSouth I, 144 F.3d at 67 (finding other portions of the Telecommunications Act to serve rational and nonpunitive purposes and that the selectivity of the Act was quite understandable without resort to inferences of punitive purpose). 86 By contrast, other cases make clear that where there exists a significant imbalance between the magnitude of the burden imposed and a purported nonpunitive purpose, the statute cannot reasonably be said to further nonpunitive purposes. See Consol. Edison Co., 292 F.3d at 354 (holding a statute to be a bill of attainder where the legislature piled on a burden that was obviously disproportionate to the harm caused). 87 Because such an imbalance belies any purported nonpunitive goals, the availability of less burdensome alternatives becomes relevant to the bill of attainder analysis. See Nixon, 433 U.S. at 482, 97 S.Ct. at 2810 (In determining whether a legislature sought to inflict punishment on an individual, it is often useful to inquire into the existence of less burdensome alternatives by which that legislature ... could have achieved its legitimate nonpunitive objectives.); Seariver, 309 F.3d at 677-78 (considering whether there existed any less burdensome alternatives by which the legislature could have achieved its purpose); Consol. Edison Co., 292 F.3d at 354 (noting that there were plainly less burdensome alternatives to the law enacted where the legislature made no attempt whatsoever to ensure that the costs imposed on Con Ed were proportional to the problems that the legislature could legitimately seek to ameliorate). 88 Certain principles emerge from these cases. First, to avoid designation as a bill of attainder, a statute that burdens a particular person or class of persons must serve purposes that are not only nonpunitive, but also rational and fair. See Selective Serv. Sys., 468 U.S. at 854, 104 S.Ct. at 3356; Nixon, 433 U.S. at 483, 97 S.Ct. at 2810; BellSouth II, 162 F.3d at 680, 686-88. In addition, as the historical cases foreshadowed, there must be a nexus between the legislative means and legitimate nonpunitive ends. See Selective Serv. Sys., 468 U.S. at 854, 104 S.Ct. at 3356; BellSouth II, 162 F.3d at 687-88. Additionally, a court must weigh the purported nonpunitive purpose of a statute against the magnitude of the burden it inflicts. See Nixon, 433 U.S. at 475-76, 97 S.Ct. at 2806-07 (stating that the question under the functional test is whether the law under challenge, viewed in terms of the type and severity of burdens imposed, reasonably can be said to further nonpunitive legislative purposes) (emphasis added). It is not the severity of a statutory burden in absolute terms that demonstrates punitiveness so much as the magnitude of the burden relative to the purported nonpunitive purposes of the statute. A grave imbalance or disproportion between the burden and the purported nonpunitive purpose suggests punitiveness, even where the statute bears some minimal relation to nonpunitive ends. See id. at 473, 97 S.Ct. at 2805; Consol. Edison Co., 292 F.3d at 354. 89 Other aspects of a challenged statute also bear on the bill of attainder analysis. For example, the inclusion of protective measures designed to safeguard the rights of the burdened individual or class weighs against a finding that a statute is a bill of attainder. See Nixon, 433 U.S. at 477, 97 S.Ct. at 2807. Moreover, the selectivity or scope of a statute may indicate punitiveness where the differential treatment of the affected party or parties cannot be explained without resort to inferences of punitive purpose. BellSouth I, 144 F.3d at 67; see also Navegar, Inc. v. United States, 192 F.3d 1050, 1067 (D.C.Cir.1999), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 816, 121 S.Ct. 53, 148 L.Ed.2d 21 (2000) (holding that the breadth of a challenged statute indicated that Congress was aiming not to punish appellants, but rather to regulate an entire class); BellSouth II, 162 F.3d at 690. Finally, the availability of less burdensome alternatives can also cast doubt on purported nonpunitive purposes. See Nixon, 433 U.S. at 482, 97 S.Ct. at 2810; SeaRiver, 309 F.3d at 677-78; Consol. Edison Co., 292 F.3d at 354. To be sure, these considerations are not alone decisive, and Congress must have sufficient latitude to choose among competing policy alternatives so that our bill of attainder analysis will not cripple the very process of legislating. Nixon, 433 U.S. at 470, 97 S.Ct. at 2803-04. Nevertheless, the presence in a challenged enactment of the features highlighted in these cases undercuts the plausibility of any purported benign purposes and points us toward a finding of punitiveness. 90 Applying these principles to the instant case, we conclude that the Elizabeth Morgan Act constitutes punishment under the functional test. As an initial matter, there can be no doubt as to the magnitude of the burden the Act imposes on Dr. Foretich. By singling out Dr. Foretich as virtually the only parent subject to the Act, Congress has permanently associated him with criminal acts of child sexual abuse. The Act memorializes a judgment by the United States Congress that Dr. Foretich is guilty of horrific crimes. Congress reached this determination despite the repeated and unwavering rejection of such claims by every court that considered them. As a result, the Act inflicts significant and costly injury to Dr. Foretich's reputation, while it also takes a significant step toward permanently severing Dr. Foretich's relationship with his own daughter. 91 The Government argues that the Act serves the nonpunitive purposes of promoting the best interests of the child, reuniting a family, and facilitating the return of U.S. citizens to this country. In the Government's view, the burden on Dr. Foretich is merely incidental to legitimate purposes, so the burden does not make the Act a bill of attainder. The difficulty with this argument is that the Government appears to suggest that it can defend the constitutionality of the statute simply by positing any nonpunitive purpose, regardless of the nature of the burden imposed or the relationship between that burden and the asserted goal. This view is entirely contrary to the prevailing case law noted above. The law is clear that if there exists an extraordinary imbalance between the burden imposed and the alleged nonpunitive purpose, and if the legislative means do not appear rationally to further that alleged purpose, then the statute in question does not escape unconstitutionality merely because the Government can assert purposes that superficially appear to be nonpunitive. 92 What is most noteworthy here is that the Government's asserted purposes in this case conveniently beg two telling questions: Why did the protection of Hilary's best interests require this legislation? Why were Dr. Morgan and Hilary unable to return safely to this country to reunite with their family before the passage of the Act? The only plausible answer to each question is that Congress believed Dr. Foretich had abused his daughter and posed a continuing threat to her security and well-being. The purposes the Government alleges thus cannot be viewed as nonpunitive. 93 This conclusion is inescapable when it is seen that the particular means Congress adopted in this Act belie any nonpunitive aim. Although it asserts that the Act is primarily concerned with promoting the best interests of the child, the Government offers no answer to the question of why the best interest standard of the Act was not made available in other child custody cases. If the disputed Act had been enacted to apply to all pending custody disputes involving children over 13, this would be a different case. Dr. Foretich would still have to secure Hilary's consent before obtaining any visitation with her. However, such a burden, while weighty, could not be viewed as punitive under the Bill of Attainder Clause. 94 In this case, however, the fact that Dr. Foretich was singled out for this severe burden belies the claim that Congress's purposes were nonpunitive. Evidently, Congress believed that the existing standard ordinarily applied in D.C. custody cases was perfectly adequate to protect the best interests of mature minor children in all cases save one, the Morgan-Foretich custody dispute. Under the normally applicable standard, a Superior Court judge must take account of several factors in determining the best interests of the child, including the child's own wishes. See D.C. CODE § 16914(a)(3)(A). It is only in the Morgan-Foretich case that Congress chose to make the child's consent determinative. The Government asserted at oral argument that this alteration to the standard was necessary to give a mature minor the right to say no, that she does not have to be with someone who she believes abused her. Yet, surely there are other mature minors in the District who prefer with good reason to be placed in the custody of one parent rather than the other. Apparently, in Congress's view, the best interests of those other children are adequately served by the existing standard. In light of the Act's narrow applicability, the Government's asserted purposes are simply implausible. It is the relative imbalance between the burden in this case and the implausible nonpunitive purposes that compels us toward a finding of punitiveness. 95 The Government responds that a statute is not punishment merely because Congress could have written it more broadly. It is true that underinclusiveness or specificity, alone, do not render a statute an unconstitutional bill of attainder. The statute must also inflict punishment. See Nixon, 433 U.S. at 470-72, 97 S.Ct. at 2803-05; Brown, 381 U.S. at 449 n. 23, 85 S.Ct. at 1715 n. 23. Nevertheless, narrow application of a statute to a specific person or class of persons raises suspicion, because the Bill of Attainder Clause is principally concerned with [t]he singling out of an individual for legislatively prescribed punishment. Selective Serv. Sys., 468 U.S. at 847, 104 S.Ct. at 3352 (quoting Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Bd., 367 U.S. 1, 86, 81 S.Ct. 1357, 1405, 6 L.Ed.2d 625 (1961)) (emphasis added). Therefore, the functional test necessarily takes account of the scope or selectivity of a statute in assessing the plausibility of alleged nonpunitive purposes. See Selective Serv. Sys., 468 U.S. at 855, 104 S.Ct. at 3356-57; Navegar, 192 F.3d at 1067; BellSouth II, 162 F.3d at 690; BellSouth I, 144 F.3d at 67. Unlike our previous cases, the instant case is one in which the narrow focus of the disputed Act cannot be explained without resort to inferences of punitive purpose. BellSouth I, 144 F.3d at 67. 96 In this case, it is the Act's specificity that renders the asserted nonpunitive purposes suspect. And it is the Act's specificity that creates the injury to Dr. Foretich's reputation. If the Act applied in all custody disputes, its provisions for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse would not cast aspersions on any particular person. But as the Government concedes, the Act targets only Dr. Foretich. As a consequence, the Act officially associates Dr. Foretich with criminal sexual abuse because it implies that his daughter alone needs special protections. Whereas the statute at issue in Nixon created a legitimate class of one, 433 U.S. at 472, 97 S.Ct. at 2804, and served significant public purposes beyond the burdens inflicted on former President Nixon, the Elizabeth Morgan Act creates a vilified class of one with no attendant nonpunitive purposes. Accordingly, we find that the Act imposes punishment under the functional test because it cannot reasonably be said to further nonpunitive purposes.