bill of attainder

American

noun

an act of legislature finding a person guilty of treason or felony without trial.

bill of attainder British

noun

(formerly) a legislative act finding a person guilty without trial of treason or felony and declaring him attainted See also attainder

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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bill of attainder

And the Supreme Court may not see this law as a bill of attainder either.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2025

Judge Talwani still saw the law as a bill of attainder.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2025

A bill of attainder is a law that convicts or punishes someone for a crime without a trial, a tactic used fairly frequently in England against the king’s enemies.

From Textbooks ● Jul. 28, 2021

A bill of attainder is an unconstitutional legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.

From Fox News ● Apr. 8, 2019

On the contrary, every safeguard is thrown around them; "no State shall pass any bill of attainder," or "grant any title of nobility."

From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II by Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023