Why vagrancy became a crime (historically)

• Social control: In medieval Europe, rulers wanted to stop people without land, work, or masters from moving freely. Mobile people were seen as dangerous.

• Labor enforcement: After the Black Death, workers had bargaining power. Vagrancy laws forced people to accept low wages or face punishment.

• Suspicion of “idleness”: Poverty was moralized. Not working was treated as a character flaw rather than a structural problem.

• Public order fears: Authorities equated visible poverty with crime, even without evidence of wrongdoing.

How it was used in practice

• Selective enforcement: Police used vagrancy laws to harass or remove “undesirable” people from certain areas.

• Racial and class targeting: In the U.S. and elsewhere, these laws were used against racial minorities, migrants, dissidents, and the poor.

• Pretext policing: Arrest without needing proof of an actual crime.

Why many vagrancy laws were struck down

• Courts found them:

  • Too vague (“no lawful purpose,” “idle,” “wandering”)

  • Violations of due process

  • Punishing status, not conduct

  A key U.S. example is Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville (1972), which killed many classic vagrancy statutes.

Why versions still exist today

They’re often rebranded as:

• Anti-camping laws

• Loitering laws

• Public nuisance ordinances

These target behaviors in public space (sleeping, sitting, panhandling), but critics argue they still criminalize poverty indirectly.

The core tension

Societies struggle with a basic question:

Is public space for everyone, or only for those who can participate economically?

Vagrancy laws are one answer—a coercive one.