A bill of attainder is a legislative act that declares a person or a group of people guilty of crime, and gives them a punishment, without giving them a judicial trial.

A bill or attainder is also called an act of attainder, writ of attainder, and bill of pains and penalties.

A bill of attainder takes away a person’s civil rights. This includes the right to own property, the right to hold a title, and the right to life and liberty.

Because a bill of attainder violates due process of the law, it has been banned by the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 9) and all of the United States’ 50 states constitutions (Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution).