Most of the vagrancy laws created in the 1930s.....targeted individuals perceived as "out of place" socially.....economically....or geographically. They criminalized statuses or behaviors such as being poor, unemployed, homeless, or loitering without apparent lawful purpose.
So it became a offense....to beg, wandering around without visible means of support, or being deemed "idle". Yeah...it meant police could interpret things in a broad way.
Coming out of thin air? Most historians suggest that there were some type of vagrancy laws....even going back to the 1600s...in early colonial America...depending upon where you were.
So you come to the 1930s, and this surge in transient populations (the "Okies" and "Arkies" fleeing the Dust Bowl). No matter where they went....they overwhelmed local resources and heightened fears of crime and disorder. So the vagrancy laws got even more strict.
In some ways...as President Trump talks about cleaning up DC....he's simply creating the vagrancy path of the 1930s again, and giving people a choice....get cleaned up and working.....take rehab in a facility.....or leave entirely.
The odd thing? Well....the Democrats appear to be anti-vagrancy and pro-hobo. Trying to sell this to the general public? It just doesn't appeal to most folks.
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