This vicarious punishment conflicts with principles underlying American justice. In Article III, the Constitution explicitly forbids punishing children for the crimes of their parents, even for crimes as serious as treason: “No Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”20 This means that “even if all of one’s antecedents had been convicted of treason, the Constitution forbids its penalties to be visited upon him.”21
