According to her reasoning, apparently, it isn’t possible. I didn’t read her opinion, but if she’s saying that cutting off funding to a specific group is a bill of attainder, then there is no crime or act one can commit. Congress cannot pass any bill of attainder for any crime - Article I, Sec. 9 provides for no exceptions.
If Congress was trying to take back money that was already given to ACORN or to increase taxes on ACORN specifically, which is what they were trying to do to the AIG executives, I would actually agree with her. If the government wants to take anyone’s money because they committed a crime or breached a contract, then that’s what the courts are for.
However, Congress did nothing of the sort here. They cut off ACORN from money which hadn’t even been appropriated yet, which ACORN has absolutely no property interest in. The idea that this is a bill of attainder is absurd. Whether someone ought to receive federal money is not a justiciable issue for the courts.
Totally agreed.