George C. Riley v. New Jersey State Parole Board (069327)

A well-established principle of ancient origin is that the legislature cannot increase the punishment for a crime after it has been committed. This simple principle — that after-the-fact laws cannot raise the punishment for earlier committed conduct — is embodied in the Ex Post Facto Clauses of both the Federal and New Jersey Constitutions, U.S. Const, art. I, § 10; N.J. Const, art. IV, § 7, 113.

In 2009, George C. Riley, then seventy-six years old, completed serving the entirety of his twenty-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault. On his release from prison, Riley was under no form of…