Opinion ID: 2023838
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Ex Post Facto Prohibition

Text: The United States Constitution prohibits both Congress (U.S. Const., art. I, § 9) and the states (U.S. Const., art. I, § 10) from enacting ex post facto laws. The Illinois Constitution also forbids the enactment of ex post facto laws. Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 16. This court, in interpreting the ex post facto prohibition in the Illinois Constitution, looks to the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the federal prohibition. Barger, 163 Ill.2d at 360, 206 Ill.Dec. 170, 645 N.E.2d 175. The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws applies only to penal statutes which disadvantage the offender affected by them. Collins v. Youngblood, 497 U.S. 37, 41, 110 S.Ct. 2715, 2718, 111 L.Ed.2d 30, 38 (1990). The prohibition against ex post facto laws serves at least two purposes. The prohibition restrains Congress and state legislatures from enacting arbitrary or vindictive legislation. The prohibition also assures that statutes give fair warning of their effect and permit individuals to rely on their meaning until explicitly changed. Miller v. Florida, 482 U.S. 423, 429-30,107 S.Ct. 2446, 2451, 96 L.Ed.2d 351, 359-60 (1987); Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 28-29, 101 S.Ct. 960, 964, 67 L.Ed.2d 17, 23 (1981). The State posits that parole is a matter of legislative grace which does not implicate ex post facto concerns. However, a statute need not impair a vested right to violate the ex post facto prohibition. The presence or absence of an affirmative, enforceable right is irrelevant to an analysis under the ex post facto prohibition. Critical to relief under the ex post facto clauses is not an individual's right to less punishment, but rather the lack of governmental restraint and fair notice when the legislature increases punishment beyond what was prescribed when the crime was committed. Thus, even if a statute merely alters penal provisions accorded by the grace of the legislature, it can nevertheless violate the ex post facto prohibition. Weaver, 450 U.S. at 29-30, 101 S.Ct. at 964-65, 67 L.Ed.2d at 23-24; accord Lynce v. Mathis, 519 U.S.___,___, 117 S.Ct. 891, 896, 137 L.Ed.2d 63, 72 (1997). Based on these principles, the United States Supreme Court prescribed a test for determining whether a criminal law is ex post facto. Under this test: (1) the law must be retrospective, i.e., it must apply to events occurring before its enactment; and (2) the law must disadvantage the offender affected by it. Miller, 482 U.S. at 430, 107 S.Ct. at 2451, 96 L.Ed.2d at 360, quoting Weaver, 450 U.S. at 29,101 S.Ct. at 964, 67 L.Ed.2d at 23; Lindsey v. Washington, 301 U.S. 397, 401, 57 S.Ct. 797, 799, 81 L.Ed. 1182, 1186 (1937).