http://frontpage.brightok.net/~sempai/billofattainder
I wonder if Blackstone covers any of this ground.
One of the great ironies about the Constitutional prohibition against bills of attainder was that the establishment of the U.S. as a nation probably could not have been accomplished without these kinds of nebulous "legal" proceedings (albeit unofficial legal proceedings). The process under which many British loyalists throughout the Thirteen Colonies were stripped of their property and fled to Canada or back to Britain was a classic case of "bills of attainder" at work.
Which brings up a very important point . . . It makes no sense to establish a formal rule of law in a society without first cleansing the society of every member who has given clear indications that he/she does not recognize the formal rule of law that is being established.