Vagrancy: Difference between revisions

'''Vagrancy''' is the condition of wandering [[homelessness]] without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also{{efn|Also known as '''bums''', '''vagabonds''', '''rogues''', '''[[tramp]]s''', or '''drifters''').<ref>{{cite web |title=Vagrant – Definition of vagrant in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url= https://www.lexico.com/definition/vagrant |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200301193006/https://www.lexico.com/definition/vagrant |archive-date= 1 March 2020 |url-status= live |website= Oxford Dictionaries – English}}</ref>}} usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in [[begging]], [[waste picker| scavenging]], or [[petty theft]],. [[temporaryIn work]],Western or [[welfare|social security]] (where available). Historicallycountries, vagrancy in Western societies was associatedhistorically with pettya crime, begging and lawlessness, and punishable by law with forced labor, military service, imprisonment, or confinement to dedicated [[labor house]]s.

Both ''vagrant'' and ''vagabond'' ultimately derive from the Latin word ''[[Wikt:vagari| ''vagari]]'']], meaning "to wander". The term ''vagabond'' isand derivedits archaic equivalent ''{{linktext | vagabone}}'' come from Latin ''vagabundus'' ("strolling about"). In [[Middle English]], ''vagabond'' originally denoted a person without a home or employment.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200929194241/https://www.lexico.com/definition/vagabond Definition of vagabond] from Oxford Dictionaries Online</ref>

Many world religions, both in history and today, have vagrant traditions or make reference to vagrants. In Christianity, Jesus is shown in the Bible as having compassion for beggars, prostitutes, and the disenfranchised. The Catholic Church also teaches compassion for people living in vagrancy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html |title=Evangelii Gaudium : Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World |date=24 November 2013 |author=Pope Francis |website=w2.vatican.va}}</ref> Vagrant lifestyles are seen in Christian movements, such as in the [[mendicant orders]]. Many still exist in places like Europe, Africa, and the Near East, as preserved by [[Gnosticism]], [[Hesychasm]], and various [[esoteric Christianity|esoteric]] practices.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The [[Belgian Criminal Law]] had defined vagrants as lacking a stable residence, the necessary means to survive, and employment.<ref name=":2">Kimber, Julie (August 2013). [http://proxy.library.umkc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=30h&AN=89703811&site=ehost-live&scope=site "Poor Laws: A Historiography of Vagrancy in Australia"]. ''[[History Compass]]''. '''11''' (8): 537–550 – via EBSCO.</ref> The Belgian Criminal Law of 1867 had high levels of recidivism, leading to questions concerning it's effectiveness in combating vagrancy<ref name=":2" /> From 27 November 1891, a vagabond could be jailed. Vagabonds, beggars and procurers were imprisoned in vagrancy prisons: [[Hoogstraten]]; [[Merksplas]]; and [[Wortel, Belgium|Wortel]] ([[Flanders]]). There, the prisoners had to work for their living by working on the land or in the prison. If the prisoners had earned enough money, then they could leave the "colony" (as it was called). On 12 January 1993, the [[Vagrancy Act (Belgium)|Belgian vagrancy law]] was repealed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kolonienvanweldadigheid.eu/sites/default/files/CofB_NominationFile_2020_scherm_lowres-compressed.pdf|title=Colonies of Benevolence|publisher=Colonies of Benevolence|language=English|accessdate=20 November 2022}}</ref> At that time, 260 vagabonds still lived in the Wortel colony.

[[File:Vagrant being punished in the streets (Tudor England).jpg|thumb|A woodcut from c.{{Circa|1536}} depicting a vagrant being punished in the streets in Tudor England]]

In premodern [[Finland]] and [[Sweden]], vagrancy was a crime, which could result in a sentence of [[forced labour]] or forced [[military service]]. There was a "legal protection" (Finnish: ''laillinen suojelu'') obligation: those not part of the [[estates of the realm]] (nobility, clergy, burghers or land-owners) were obliged to be employed, or otherwise, they could be charged with vagrancy. Legal protection was mandatory already in medieval Swedish law, but [[Gustav I of Sweden]] began strictly enforcing this provision, applying it even when work was potentially available. In Finland, the legal protection provision was repealed in 1883; however, vagrancy still remained illegal, if connected with "immoral" or "indecent" behavior.<ref>Original definition: "se, joka ilman elatusta omista varoistaan tahi toisen huolenpidon kautta työttömänä kuljeksii harjoittaen siveetöntä ja säädytöntä elämää..."</ref> In 1936, a new law moved the emphasis from criminalization into social assistance. Forced labor sentences were abolished in 1971 and anti-vagrancy laws were repealed in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=httphttps://wikiportti.narckansallisarkisto.fi/porttifi/index.phpaineisto-oppaat/Teema:_Irtolaisuusirtolaisuus |title=Teema: Irtolaisuus – Portti |website=wiki.narc.fi}}</ref>

In the [[Weimar Republic]], the law against vagrancy was relaxed, but it became much more stringent in [[Nazi Germany]], where vagrancy, together with begging, prostitution, and "work-shyness" (''arbeitsscheu''), was classified as "[[asocialanti-social behavior]]" (''Asoziale'') and punishable by confinement to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].

In the [[Russian Empire]], the legal term "vagrancy" ({{lang-langx|ru|link=no|бродяжничество}}, ''brodyazhnichestvo'') was defined in a different way than in Western Europe (''[[:fr:vagabondage|vagabondage]]'' in France, ''[[:de:Landstreicherei|Landstreicherei]]'' in Germany). Russian law recognized one as a vagrant if they could not prove their own standing (title), or if they changed residence without a permission from authorities, rather than punishing loitering or absence of livelihood. Foreigners who had been twice expatriated with prohibition of return to the Russian Empire and were arrested in Russia again were also recognized as vagrants. Punishments were harsh: according to ''[[Sobornoye Ulozheniye|Ulozhenie]]'', the legal code, a vagrant who could not elaborate on his kinship, standing, or permanent residence, or gave false evidence, was sentenced to a 4-year imprisonment and a subsequent exile to [[Siberia]] or another far-off province.

The [[Ordinance of Labourers 1349]] was the first major vagrancy law in England and Wales. The [[local ordinance|ordinance]] sought to increase the available workforce following the [[Black Death in England]] by making ''idleness'' (unemployment) an offence. A vagrant was a person who could work but chose not to, and having no fixed abode or lawful occupation, begged. Vagrancy was punishable by [[human branding]] or whipping. Vagrants were distinguished from the [[impotent poor]], who were unable to support themselves because of advanced age or sickness. In the [[Vagabonds Act 1530]], [[Henry VIII]] decreed that "beggars who are old and incapable of working receive a beggar's licence. On the other hand, [there should be] whipping and imprisonment for sturdy vagabonds. They are to be tied to the cart-tail and whipped until the blood streams from their bodies, then they are to swear on oath to go back to their birthplace or to serve where they have lived the last three years and to 'put themselves to labour'. For the second arrest for vagabondage the whipping is to be repeated and half the ear sliced off; but for the third relapse the offender is to be executed as a hardened criminal and enemy of the common weal."<ref>{{cite book |title=Capital Volume I |last=Marx |first=Karl |publisher=Pelican Books |year=1976 |isbn=978-0140445688 |location=England |pages=896 |others=Ernest Mandel, Ben Fowkes}}</ref>

In the [[Vagabonds Act 1547]], [[Edward VI]] ordained that "if anyone refuses to work, he shall be condemned as a slave to the person who has denounced him as an idler. The master has the right to force him to do any work, no matter how vile, with whip and chains. If the slave is absent for a fortnight, he is condemned to slavery for life and is to be branded on forehead or back with the letter S; if he runs away three times, he is to be executed as a felon... If it happens that a vagabond has been idling about for three days, he is to be taken to his birthplace, branded with a red hot iron with the letter V on his breast, and set to work, in chains, on the roads or at some other labour... Every master may put an iron ring round the neck, arms or legs of his slave, by which to know him more easily."<ref>An Act for the Punishing of Vagabonds ([[1 Edw. 6]]. c. 3)</ref>

The [[Vagabonds Act 1572]] decreed that "unlicensed beggars above fourteen years of age are to be severely flogged and branded on the left ear unless someone will take them into service for two years; in case of a repetition of the offence, if they are over eighteen, they are to be executed, unless someone will take them into service for two years; but for the third offence they are to be executed without mercy as felons." The same act laid the legal groundwork for the enforced exile ([[penal transportation]]) of "obdurate idlers" to "such parts beyond the seas as shall be […] assigned by the [[Privy Council]]".<ref>An Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds ([[14 Eliz. 1]]. c. 4)</ref> At the time, this meant exile for a fixed term to the [[Virginia Company]]'s plantations in America. Those who returned unlawfully from their place of exile faced death by hanging.

In 1795, the [[Speenhamland system]] (also known as the ''Berkshire Bread Act'')<ref>{{cite book |last=Hammond |first=J. L. |author-link1=John Lawrence Hammond |author2=Barbara Hammond |author-link2=Barbara Hammond |title=The Village Labourer 1760–1832 |publisher=Longman Green & Co |location=London |year=1912 |page=19}}</ref> tried to address some of the problems that underlay vagrancy. The Speenhamland system was a form of [[outdoor relief]] intended to mitigate [[rural poverty]] in England and [[Wales]] at the end of the 18th century and during the early 19th century. The law was an amendment to the [[Elizabethan Poor Law]]. It was created as an indirect result of Britain's involvements in the [[French Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1793–1815).<ref>Polanyi, Karl, and Robert Morrison MacIver. The great transformation. Vol. 5. Boston: Beacon Press, 1957. p.168</ref>

In 1821, the existing vagrancy law was reviewed by a House of Commons select committee, resulting in the publication of the, ''<nowiki/>'Report from the Select Committee on The Existing Laws Relating to Vagrants'.''<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://parlipapers.proquest.com/parlipapers/result/pqpresultpage.gispdfhitspanel.pdflink/$2fapp-bin$2fparliamentary-paper$2f9$2fb$2fc$2f5$2f1821-006917_01-112.pdf/$27Report+from+the+Select+Committee+on+The+Existing+Laws+Relating+to+Vagrants$40$2fapp-gis$2fparliamentary-paper$2f1821-006917$40Parliamentary+Paper$40null$40January+01,+1821?pgId=fec46faf-3e22-44a1-a301-3eebf2d0e160&rsId=16292669EC2 |title=Report from the Select Committee on The Existing Laws Relating to Vagrant |date=1821 |website=U.K Parliamentary Papers |access-date=4 May 2018}}</ref> After hearing the views of many witnesses appearing before it the select committee made several recommendations. The select committee found that the existing vagrancy laws had become over-complicated and that they should be amended and consolidated into a single act of Parliament. The payment of fixed rewards for the apprehension and taking vagrants before [[magistrate]]s had led to abuses of the system. Due to the [[English Poor Laws|Poor Laws]], vagrants to receive poverty relief had to seek it from the parish where they were last legally settled, often the parish where they were born. This led to a system of convicted vagrants being 'passed' from parish to parish from where they had been convicted and punished to their own parish. The 'pass' system led to them being transported by vagrancy contractors, a system found to be open to abuses and fraud. It also found that in many instances the punishment for vagrancy offences were insufficient and certain types of vagrants should be given longer prison sentences and made to complete hard labour during it.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:2108-young-arrestthisman.jpg|alt=|thumb|Political cartoon by [[Art Young]], ''[[The Masses]]'', 1917.]]

After the [[American Civil War]], some [[Southern United States|Southern]] states passed [[Black Codes (United States)|Black Codes]], laws that tried to control the hundreds of thousands of [[freedman|freed slaves]]. In 1866, the state of [[Virginia]], fearing that it would be "overrun with dissolute and abandoned characters", passed an ''Act Providing for the Punishment of Vagrants''. Homeless or unemployed persons could be forced into labour on public or private works, for very low pay, for a statutory maximum of three months; if fugitive and recaptured, they must serve the rest of their term at minimum subsistence, wearing ball and chain. In effect, though not in declared intent, the Act criminalized attempts by impoverished freed people to seek out their own families and rebuild their lives. The commanding general in Virginia, [[Alfred H. Terry]], condemned the Act as a form of entrapment, the attempted reinstitution of "slavery in all but its name". He forbade its enforcement. It is not known how often it was applied, or what was done to prevent its implementation, but it remained statute in Virginia until 1904.<ref>Tarter, B. Vagrancy Act of 1866, 2015, 25 August, ''in'' Encyclopedia Virginia [https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/vagrancy-act-of-1866/] retrieved 30 March 2018</ref> Other Southern states enacted similar laws to funnel blacks into their system of [[convict leasing]].

In the 1960s,Vagrancy laws proven unacceptably broad and vague weremay have been found to violate the [[due process]] clause of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. <ref name=":1">{{citationCite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=Howard L. needed|date=AprilFall 20161972 |title=Constitutional Law: Vagrancy Laws- A Fourteenth Amendment Violation |url=https://contentdm.washburnlaw.edu/digital/collection/wlj/id/2903/rec/13 |journal=[[Washburn Law Journal]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=82-86 |via=Washburn Law Digital Collections}}</ref><!-- "Police had too much power in deciding whether or not to arrest someone" :: This particular condition does not apply uniquely to vagrancy laws in America, and any elimination of laws against demonstrating "no visible means of support" (as defined at least as early as the 1930s throughout western America or more) did nothing to prevent any police officer from coughing up some pretext for taking anyone into custody at will, which renders that statement irrelevant to this article. --> Such laws could no longer be used to obstruct the "[[freedom of speech]]" of a [[demonstration (protest)|political demonstrator]] or an unpopular group. Ambiguous vagrancy laws became more narrowly and clearly defined.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

In ''[[Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville]],'' 405 U.S. 156 (1972), the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] ruled that a Florida vagrancy law was unconstitutional because it was too vague to be understood.<ref>*{{Caselaw source |case=''Papachristou v. Jacksonville'', {{ussc|405|156|1972|el=no}} |courtlistener=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/108472/papachristou-v-jacksonville/ |findlaw=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/405/156.html |googlescholar=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15009844350298299825 |justia=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/405/156/case.html |loc=http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep405/usrep405156/usrep405156.pdf |openjurist=https://openjurist.org/405/us/156 |oyez=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-5030}}</ref><ref name=":1" />