Article. I, Section. 9

We have heard many members of congress express their intent to retrieve the recent bonuses paid to the employees of AIG Insurance. Most of the proposed remedies involve new legislation changing the tax code to effect these AIG employees.

I am not surprised to learn that these congressmen and senators are ignorant of constitutional law.

The Constitution of the United States, Article. I, Section. 9.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

A bill of attainder is an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial.

An ex post facto law (from the Latin for "after the fact") or retroactive law, is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of acts committed or the legal status of facts and relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law.

Civil society will never arise until the members of congress are able to read and understand our Constitution.