The constitutional text

Article I · Section 10

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 1f

States also cannot punish by legislative decree

Current text
pass any Bill of Attainder,

What it means

A state may not pass a bill of attainder. Like the federal restriction, this prevents targeted legislative punishment that substitutes a law for judicial trial.

Historical setting

The Constitution imposes several rights-protecting limits directly on states before the later Bill of Rights and Reconstruction Amendments. Federalist 44 defended this limit as a basic requirement of sound government.

What it does

State legislators may enact general criminal laws within constitutional bounds, but cannot simply declare named opponents deserving of punishment. A measure’s punitive character and specificity matter more than its formal title.

Debate & interpretation

Local accountability does not eliminate the danger of majority retaliation against an unpopular group. This prohibition reflects the judgment that some limits should bind every government in the Union, even when a local majority supports the prohibited action.

A common misreading

A state legislature cannot evade the ban merely by calling a punitive measure a civil regulation.

Think it through

Why would the founders distrust targeted legislative punishment even when enacted by locally elected representatives?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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