Johnson v. State

HORSEY, Justice:

We are asked to determine whether the Department of Correction’s retroactive application of our decision in Richmond v. State, Del.Supr., 446 A.2d 1091 (1982) operates as an increase in punishment violating the Ex Post Facto Clause or the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause of the Federal Constitution. We hold that in the interest of fundamental fairness, the State’s unilateral application of Richmond retrospectively to eliminate accrued “good time credits” constitutes an “ex post facto -like” violation of defendants’ Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process.

I

Defendants…