Ex Post Facto Laws are created to criminalize specific actions that have already been committed retroactively. Such laws are unconstitutional in the United States of America but have been enacted at one time or another (Logan, 2018) . The individual who created the new illicit drug should not be charged as Ex Post Facto Laws as there was no crime being committed at the time. The law that was in operation did not specify that the new drug was illegal as it was not specified.
Ex Post Facto Laws are created in order to rectify an existing injustice but tend to be unfair to the accused. Therefore, it is not easy to judge the case as the individual was not committing a crime knowingly at the time (Díaz et al., 2016). Therefore, it is up to the prosecutor to come up with other charges to prefer against the individual. Such laws seek to curtail the freedoms of the people and have been a hallmark of oppressive regimes. By criminalizing activities at will, the state is bound to interfere with the people’s freedoms.
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In conclusion, at the time of the creation of the ‘illicit drug,’ the law was clear and indifferent to the actions of the individual. However, the actions that followed the creation of the drug lead to death, and in effect, the drug was declared illegal. Therefore, the individual was acting well and within his rights in creating the drug at the time that the legislation was oblivious to it. He should, therefore, not be charged ex post facto.
References
Díaz, A., Infanzón, E., & Beleña, Á. (2016). Ex post-facto study of long-term stress in a sample of adoptees. Anales De Psicología/Annals of Psychology , 32 (1), 9–17.
Logan, W. A. (2018). Challenging the Punitiveness of “New-Generation” Sorn Laws. New Criminal Law Review , 21 (3), 426–457.
