papachristou city jacksonville argued december decided february jacksonville vagrancy ordinance petitioners convicted void vagueness fails give person ordinary intelligence fair notice contemplated conduct forbidden statute encourages arbitrary erratic arrests convictions makes criminal activities modern standards normally innocent places almost unfettered discretion hands police pp reversed douglas delivered opinion members joined except powell rehnquist took part consideration decision case samuel jacobson argued cause filed briefs petitioners edward austin argued cause respondent brief james rinaman edward wall justice douglas delivered opinion case involves eight defendants convicted florida municipal violating jacksonville florida vagrancy ordinance convictions affirmed florida circuit consolidated appeal petition certiorari denied district appeal authority johnson state case petition certiorari granted reasons appear reverse issue five consolidated cases margaret papachristou betty calloway eugene eddie melton leonard johnson arrested early sunday morning charged vagrancy prowling auto jimmy lee smith milton henry charged vagrancy vagabonds henry edward heath codefendant arrested vagrancy loitering common thief thomas owen campbell charged vagrancy common thief hugh brown charged vagrancy disorderly loitering street disorderly conduct resisting arrest violence facts stipulated papachristou calloway white females melton johnson black males papachristou enrolled program sponsored state employment service florida junior college jacksonville calloway typing shorthand teacher state mental institution located near jacksonville owner automobile four defendants arrested melton vietnam war veteran released navy nine months veterans hospital date arrest computer helper attending college student jacksonville johnson operator grocery chain warehouse lifelong resident jacksonville time arrest four riding calloway car main thoroughfare jacksonville left restaurant owned johnson uncle eaten way nightclub arresting officers denied racial mixture car played part decision make arrest arrest said made defendants stopped near lot broken several times however evidence breaking entering night question four charged prowling auto none previously arrested except papachristou convicted municipal offense jimmy lee smith milton henry petitioner arrested weekday downtown jacksonville waiting friend lend car apply job produce company smith produce worker organizer negro political group wife three children supported wife arrested several times convicted smith companion henry high school student previous record arrest morning cold smith jacket went briefly dry cleaning shop wait left requested thereafter walked back forth two three times stretch looking friend store owners apparently wary smith companion summoned two police officers searched men found neither weapon arrested officers said identification officers believe story heath codefendant arrested loitering common thief residents jacksonville heath lived life employed automobile body shop heath previously arrested codefendant arrest record heath companion arrested drove residence shared heath girl friend girls police officers already process arresting another man heath companion started backing driveway officers signaled stop asked get car thereupon automobile searched although contraband incriminating evidence found arrested heath charged common thief reputed thief codefendant charged loitering standing driveway act officers admitted done command campbell arrested reached home early one morning charged common thief stopped officers traveling high rate speed yet speeding charge placed brown arrested observed leaving downtown jacksonville hotel police officer seated cruiser police testified reputed thief narcotics pusher generally opprobrious character officer called brown car intending time arrest unless good explanation street brown walked police cruiser commanded officer began search apparently preparatory placing car process search came two small packets later found contain heroin officer touched pocket packets brown began resist charged disorderly loitering street disorderly conduct resisting arrest violence also charged narcotics violation charge nolled jacksonville ordinance florida statute derived early english law johnson state employ archaic language definitions vagrants history oftentold tale breakup feudal estates england led labor shortages turn resulted statutes laborers designed stabilize labor force prohibiting increases wages prohibiting movement workers home areas search improved conditions later vagrancy laws became criminal aspects poor laws series laws passed england subject became increasingly severe theory elizabethan poor laws longer fits facts edwards california conditions spawned laws may gone archaic classifications remain ordinance void vagueness sense fails give person ordinary intelligence fair notice contemplated conduct forbidden statute harriss encourages arbitrary erratic arrests convictions thornhill alabama herndon lowry living rule law entails various suppositions one persons entitled informed state commands forbids lanzetta new jersey lanzetta one group cases insisting law give fair notice offending conduct see connally general construction cline frink dairy cohen grocery field regulatory statutes governing business activities acts limited narrow category greater leeway allowed boyce motor lines national dairy products petrillo poor among us minorities average business alerted regulatory schemes vagrancy laws assume understanding meaning impact read protected caught vagrancy net necessity specific intent commit unlawful act see screws boyce motor lines supra jacksonville ordinance makes criminal activities modern standards normally innocent nightwalking one florida construes ordinance make criminal one night wandering johnson state habitual wanderer ordinance describes common night walkers know however experience sleepless people often walk night perhaps hopeful relaxation result luis former governor puerto rico commented loafing national virtue commonwealth encouraged however crime jacksonville ersons able work habitually living upon earnings wives minor children like habitually living without visible means support might implicate unemployed pillars community married rich wives ersons able work habitually living upon earnings wives minor children may also embrace unemployed people labor market reason recession disemployed reason technological structural displacements walkers strollers wanderers may going coming burglary loafers loiterers may casing place holdup letting one wife support matter normally concern police yet may course setting numerous crimes difficulty activities historically part amenities life known mentioned constitution bill rights unwritten amenities part responsible giving people feeling independence feeling creativity amenities dignified right dissent honored right nonconformists right defy submissiveness encouraged lives high spirits rather hushed suffocating silence embedded walt whitman writings especially song open road reflected spirit vachel lindsay want go wandering henry thoreau aspect vagrancy ordinance us suggested said broad criminal statute enacted congress certainly dangerous legislature set net large enough catch possible offenders leave courts step inside say rightfully detained set large reese federal case due process implications equally applicable vagrancy ordinance net cast large give courts power pick choose increase arsenal police winters new york struck new york statute made criminal distribution magazine made principally items criminal deeds bloodshed lust massed become vehicles inciting violent depraved crimes person infirmity found vagueness absence ascertainable standards guilt sensitive first amendment area justice frankfurter dissented concerned many others vagrancy laws added word needs said regarding lanzetta new jersey case involved new jersey statute type seek control vagrancy statutes class view familiar abuses put definiteness designedly avoided allow net cast large enable men caught vaguely undesirable eyes police prosecution although chargeable particular offense short vagrancy statutes laws gangs fenced text statute subject matter give notice conduct avoided common ground brings motley assortment human troubles magistrates proceedings procedural laxity permits conviction almost kind conduct existence house correction easy convenient problems appear immediate solution foote law administration rev direction legislature police arrest suspicious persons pass constitutional muster vagrancy prosecution may merely cloak conviction obtained real undisclosed grounds arrest people moss chief justice hewart said frederick dean crim app highest degree unfortunate part country responsible setting motion criminal law entertain connive coquette idea case enough evidence charge prisoner attempt commit crime prosecution may nevertheless insufficient evidence succeed obtaining upholding conviction vagrancy act carefree type fellow satisfied work much pay one square meal wine flophouse daily thinks kind living subhuman fellow forced raise sights go jail vagrant amsterdam federal constitutional restrictions punishment crimes status crimes general obnoxiousness crimes displeasing police officers like crim bull jacksonville ordinance squared constitutional standards plainly unconstitutional reversed footnotes rogues vagabonds dissolute persons go begging common gamblers persons use juggling unlawful games plays common drunkards common night walkers thieves pilferers pickpockets traders stolen property lewd wanton lascivious persons keepers gambling places common railers brawlers persons wandering strolling around place place without lawful purpose object habitual loafers disorderly persons persons neglecting lawful business habitually spending time frequenting houses ill fame gaming houses places alcoholic beverages sold served persons able work habitually living upon earnings wives minor children shall deemed vagrants upon conviction municipal shall punished provided class offenses advised present jacksonville vagrancy ordinance identical earlier one except juggling eliminated florida also vagrancy statute stat reads quite closely jacksonville ordinance jacksonville ordinance code makes commission florida misdemeanor class offense city jacksonville florida made minor amendments statute see laws section declared unconstitutionally overbroad lazarus faircloth supp said loitering loafing idling streets highways city even though habitual necessarily detrimental public welfare circumstances interference travel upon may often entirely innocuous statute draws distinction conduct calculated harm essentially innocent quoting hawaii anduha see also smith florida post florida disorderly conduct ordinance covering loitering hotel block barroom dramshop gambling house disorderly house wandering streets either night day without known lawful means support without able give satisfactory account also held void excessive broadness vagueness florida headley selkowitz edw edw see stephen history criminal law england blackstone commentaries ledwith roberts gives following summary early vagrancy acts came peculiar conditions utterly different present time time black death middle century till middle century indeed although diminishing degree right reform poor law first half century roads england crowded masterless men families lost former employment variety causes means livelihood taken vagrant life main causes gradual decay feudal system labouring classes anchored soil economic slackening legal compulsion work fixed wages break monasteries reign henry viii consequent disappearance religious orders previously administered kind public assistance form lodging food alms lastly economic changes brought enclosure acts people honest labourers fallen upon evil days others wild rogues common elizabethan times literature born life idleness intention following confederates formed notorious brotherhood beggars flourished centuries definite serious menace community chiefly kind harsher provisions vagrancy laws period directed edwards california referring city new york miln pet decided said whatever may notion prevailing think seriously contended person without employment without funds constitutes moral pestilence poverty immorality synonymous see reich police questioning law abiding citizens yale choose take evening walk see andromeda come schedule think entitled look distant light almach mirach without finding staring blinding beam police flashlight met one two persons course life understood art walking taking walks genius speak sauntering word beautifully derived idle people roved country middle ages asked charity pretence going la sainte terre holy land till children exclaimed goes sainte terrer saunterer never go holy land walks pretend indeed mere idlers vagabonds go saunterers good sense mean however derive word sans terre without land home therefore good sense mean particular home equally home everywhere secret successful sauntering sits still house time may greatest vagrant saunterer good sense vagrant meandering river sedulously seeking shortest course sea prefer first indeed probable derivation every walk sort crusade preached peter hermit us go forth reconquer holy land hands infidels excursions discussion doctrine area fundamental rights see note doctrine rev et seq amsterdam federal constitutional restrictions punishment crimes status crimes general obnoxiousness crimes displeasing police officers like crim bull et seq see edelman california black dissenting hicks district columbia douglas dissenting district columbia hunt app judge stephens writing majority appeals judge rudkin hawaii anduha opposing views numerous ex parte branch mo perkins vagrancy concept hastings people craig cal president roosevelt vetoing vagrancy law district columbia said bill contains many provisions constitute improvement existing law unfortunately however two provisions bill appear objectionable section bill contains number clauses defining vagrant clause section include within category person lives idleness upon wages earnings property person legal obligation support definition broadly loosely drawn many cases make vagrant adult daughter son family though amply provided guilty improper unlawful conduct occupation dependent upon parental support clause said section person leading idle life giving good account incur guilt liability punishment unless prove required section lawful means support realized lawful occupation source constitutes leading idle life giving good account oneself indicated statute left determination first place police officer eventually judge police subject review proper cases phraseology may suitable general purposes definition vagrant conform accepted standards legislative practice definition criminal offense willing agree person without lawful means support temporarily otherwise subject risk arrest punishment provisions indefinite uncertain meaning application employed clause hardly satisfactory answer say sound judgment decisions police prosecuting officers must trusted invoke law proper cases law drawn make applicable cases obviously comprised within terms doc cong sess thus prowling auto formed basis vagrancy arrests convictions four petitioners herein even listed ordinance crime see hanks state florida district appeal construed wandering strolling place place including travel automobile hazard soviet legal system code step direction precision definition crime complete departure concept punishment accordance dictates social consciousness judge laying hold old tsarist code provision effect known term analogy soviet draftsmen inserted article permitting judge consider social danger individual even committed act defined crime specialized part code guided analogizing dangerous act act defined crime outset analogies always apparent husband executed sadistic murder wife followed dissection torso shipment trunk remote railway station arguing crime analogous banditry time decision code permitted death penalty banditry murder without political motives serious social consequences traditionally important subject criminal law algeria rejecting flexibility introduced soviet criminal code analogy principle european black african hazard residue marxist influence algeria colum johnson whiteley warden arrests investigation see secret detention chicago police report american civil liberties union table contains nationwide data arrests vagrancy suspicion period combined vagrancy suspicion offenses total rate total rate total rate rptd per rptd per rptd per year arrests arrests arrests averages reporting agencies represent population source fbi uniform crime reports