Article 1 Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states, "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." Known as the Supremacy Clause, Article Six, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution states,
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding."
The latter establishes the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, and U.S. treaties as "the supreme law of the land." The former establishes that no law can change the legal consequences of action committed or relationships established before the enactment of the law.
Those of the financial media have been abuzz about bond exit fees being imposed on extant contracts held by retail owners of bond mutual funds. Peter Schiff gave a decent write up on the bond exit fee chatter. Far too many believe regulators of the SEC or even the Federal Reserve can impose such ex post facto rules without knowing what ex post facto means much less having ever read any part of the U.S. Constitution, much less Article 1 Section 9.
Likely, there shall be jokers who will cite Justice Samuel Chase and Calder v. Bull suggesting the U.S. Supremes claim the ex post facto provision of the Constitution applies solely to criminal cases, not civil cases, but to do so would be yet another undemocratic, wrong ruling by U.S. Supreme Court justices (e.g., Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, Wickard v. Filburn, Kelo v New London, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius). Heritage.org has a nice write up on the Supreme Court history regarding ex post facto.
Should those at the SEC feel brazen to rule such fees must exist and should the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Roberts agree, because you know such an SEC ruling will make to the USSC, that shall be the last shred of proof anyone needs to see Americans have not been living by their Constitution for years upon years.
Americans need to see reality. The U.S. Supreme Court system is broken. That nine judges can impose their will upon Americans hardly is democratic, especially old sleeping judges and judges who never created life but yet rule on the sanctity of life.
There should be 50 justices, not nine, one appointed from each state. States' legislators should appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices, not the president. Appointees should at least be 50 in age and have fathered or mothered children. The term for any U.S. Court Justice should not exceed 10 years.
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