State v. Owens

Layton, J.:

A statute of this nature is valid provided only that it is made applicable to a fourth offense committed subsequent to its passage. Gryger v. Burke, Warden, 334 U. S. 728, 68 S. Ct. 1256, 92 L. Ed. 1683; Wilson v. U. S., 9 Cir., 205 F. 2d 567; Cases v. U. S., Cir., 131 F. 2d 916.

But the application of a statute increasing the punishment for a crime, after the commission of that crime, is ex post facto and, thus, unconstitutional hy virtue of Article I, Section 10 of the Federal Constitution. 1 Lindsey v. State of Washington, 301 U. S. 397, 57 S. Ct. 797, 81 L. Ed. 1182; U. S. v.…