“While the Supreme Court has noted that the courts will generally defer to Congress as to the regulatory purpose of a statute absent clear proof of punitive intent, there appear to be potential issues raised with attempting to find a rational nonpunitive regulatory purpose for this legislation,” CRS legislative attorney Kenneth R. Thomas wrote in an executive summary of the 15-page analysis.

“Thus, it appears that a court may have a sufficient basis to overcome the presumption of constitutionality and find that it violates the prohibition against bills of attainder.”