Cite as: 514 U. S. 499 (1995)
Stevens, J., dissenting
(Breyer, J., concurring in judgment) (finding a separation-of-powers violation in part because of the statute's "application to a limited number of individuals"); see generally ante, at 241-242 (discussing the dangers of statutes focused at particular groups of individuals).
I believe that the 1981 amendment implicates this core ex post facto concern. The narrow class of affected individuals belies the majority's acceptance of the proposition that "the evident focus," ante, at 507, of the 1981 amendment was to save costs. Surely, even today, multiple murderers make up but a small fraction of total parole hearings; eliminating those hearings would seem unlikely to create substantial savings. Indeed, though the majority gives credence to the budget-cutting rationale, petitioners are much more frank about their motivations, as they urge the Court to "reexamine" its ex post facto jurisprudence "[i]n view of the national trend towards the implementation of harsher penalties and conditions of confinement for offenders and inmates." Brief for Petitioners 11 (footnote omitted).
I agree with petitioners' implication that the 1981 amendment is better viewed as part of that national trend toward "get-tough-on-crime" legislation. The California statute challenged in this case is one of many currently popular statutes designed to cut back on the availability of parole. The California Legislature has adopted several similar provisions in recent years,5 and a number of other States have passed comparable legislation.6 Such measures are, of course, entirely legitimate when they operate prospectively, but their
are obviously closely related. See, e. g., Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87, 138-139 (1810).
5 The California Legislature appears to have altered the frequency of parole hearings for some prisoners on at least three occasions since the 1981 amendment. See 1986 Cal. Stats., ch. 248, § 166; 1990 Cal. Stats., ch. 1053, § 1; 1994 Cal. Stats., ch. 560, § 1.
6 See, e. g., 1992 N. H. Laws, ch. 254:13; Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 791.234 (West 1992); Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 38, ¶ 1003-3-5(f) (1987); S. C. Code Ann. § 24-21-645 (Supp. 1987).
521
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