Charles Evans Whittaker

“ What is being done to these respondents seems to me to be the precise evil the ex post facto clause was designed to prevent. Both respondents are ordered deported for offenses they committed long ago-one in 1925 and the other in 1936. Long before the 1952 Act reached back to add deportation as one of the legal consequences of their offenses both paid the price society then exacted for their misconduct. They have lived in the United States for almost 40 years. ”

“ Thus, even if we assume that respondent has a 'status' within the meaning of § 405 (a) , that section by its own terms does not apply to situations 'otherwise specifically provided' for in the Act. Section 241 (a) (1) specifically provides for the deportation of an alien who 'at the time of entry was * * * excludable by the law existing at (that) time,' and § 241 (a) (4) specifically provides for the deportation of an alien who 'at any time after entry' has been convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude. ”

“ To banish them from home, family, and adopted country is punishment of the most drastic kind whether done at the time when they were convicted or later. I think that this Court should reconsider the application of the ex post facto clause with a view to applying it in a way that more effectively protects individuals from new or additional burdens, penalties, or punishments retrospectively imposed by Congress. ”