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Originally Posted by scoreman
Retroactive laws are prohibited in the USA. Google "ex post facto" to get more info on this or just read Article 1, section 9, clause 3 of the US Constitution.
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From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law
An ex post facto law (Latin for "from a thing done afterward" or "after the deed"), also known as a retrospective law, is a law that acts retroactively, affecting facts or legal relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. In reference to criminal law, it is an attempt to criminalize an action that was legal when committed; or to aggravate a crime, or make it greater than it was, when it was committed; or to change or increase the punishment that was prescribed for a crime when it was committed, such as adding new penalties or extending terms; or to alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime more likely than it would have been at the time of the crime's commission.
A hypothetical example: someone commits a brutal murder, but people think the existing laws will not punish the murderer severely enough; so the legislative powers enact laws that will more severely punish those who have committed the crime of murder ensuring that this specific murderer will get a prison sentence longer than that prescribed at the time he committed the crime.
A law may have an ex post facto effect without being technically ex post facto. For example, when a law repeals a previous law, the repealed legislation no longer applies to the situations it once did even if such situations arose before the law was repealed. The principle of prohibiting the continued application of these kinds of laws is also known as Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali.
Generally speaking, ex post facto laws are seen as a violation of the rule of law as it applies in a free and democratic society. Most common law jurisdictions do not permit retrospective legislation, though some have suggested that judge-made 'law' is retrospective as a new precedent applies to events that occurred prior to the judicial decision. In some nations that follow the Westminster system of government, such as the United Kingdom, ex post facto laws are technically possible as parliamentary supremacy allows the parliament to pass any law it wishes. However, in a nation with an entrenched bill of rights or a written constitution, ex post facto legislation may be prohibited.