A time vector was invented to define timeless declaratory judgments... Anything to block civil rights litigation against high-ranking public officials on sensitive issues...

The Black's Law Dictionary (iPad version, 9th Edition, 2011, p. 918) defines a "declaratory judgment" as a "binding adjudication that establishes the rights and other legal relations of the parties without providing for or ordering enforcement".  It is also termed a "declaratory decree" or simply a "declaration".

Since it is simply a declaration of rights for all times and purposes, it does not have a time direction.  In other words, a declaratory judgment cannot be, by its very nature, prospective or retrospective.

Enter Judge Gary L. Sharpe, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York.

In his recent decision against my husband Judge Sharpe denied my husband's constitutional claims (1) because they were barred by the 11th Amendment (they were not, my husband was suing his own state);  and (2) because Judge Sharpe deemed the declaratory relief that my husband was seeking as "retrospective" instead of "prospective".

In plain English, Judge Sharpe ruled that my husband is not entitled to even a declaration whether his constitutional rights were or were not violated because he asked the courts for a declaration of his rights, and the court considered his request as a request for "non-prospective",  or "retrospective" declaratory relief.

It logically follows that, even though in Marbury v. Madison, the very case by which the U.S. Supreme Court gave itself authority to interpret the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that any law that is contrary to the U.S. Constitution is void, and being "void" is another timeless concept, the federal courts still construe it within the time limits.

So - it may just as well be unconstitutional, but since you are asking for a "retrospective" declaratory judgment, you are not entitled to a mere declaration of whether your constitutional rights were violated, even if all you are asking is declaration of your rights without enforcement!

For Judge Sharpe and for the judges whose decisions he cited on the issue, declaratory relief has a time vector, even though by its very nature declaratory relief is made for all purposes and all times.

Anything to slam the court's door into a disliked litigant's face...