Vagrancy is defined as roaming from place to place without a permanent job, home, or material resources. Many criminal statutes targeting vagrancy have been declared invalid for being unconstitutionally vague, which is a violation of due process.
An example of this is the case of Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville, where the language of a state ordinance was found to be too vague and archaic, leading to arbitrary and unpredictable arrests and convictions.
However, in June 2024, in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson et al., the Supreme Court upheld an ordinance banning homeless people from sleeping outdoors, which came from an attempt to address “current vagrancy problems.” The ordinance is part of the city’s strategy to make vagrancy so uncomfortable that the homeless will leave the city. The suit was a class action on behalf of the city’s homeless population, alleging that the ordinances against public camping were in violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” The Court found that the ordinance “did not violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.”
[Last updated in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]