Constitutional Issue Of Vagrancy Law - 1485 Words

The vagrancy law, the law criminalizing people who live without visible means of support, has stayed controversial for a long time. The law is enacted for the purposes of preserving public order and preventing potential crimes, while it has come under constitutional attack due to its vagueness and failure to satisfy the elements of a crime: the vagrancy is vaguely defined and can be easily abused to arrest suspicious people merely based their appearance, and it punishes people because of their status instead of their acts. Vagrancy law has been abolished, but whether should we continue it remains debated. In this paper, I would discuss the issue of vagrancy law the from views of vagrancy law supporters, and argue back as an opposer. I†¦show more content†¦Taking unlawful actions three times consecutively is a substantial evidence that the person has not learned from the previous punishment and is extremely likely to relapse into criminal behaviors, so the punishment would be much severer o refrain him or her from further impairing social welfare and safety. In the same fashion, because statistically vagrants as a social group have shown a significantly higher probability of committing crimes during lifetime, it will be reasonable to utilize the statistics as an indicator, assuming that vagrants group inherently possesses the tendency to offend. Therefore, to hinder the crimes that are likely to happen, it is fair to arrest vagrants in advance, when their suspicious actions are spotted but not gone far enough to constitute a criminal attempt. However, opposers of vagrancy law would argue one of the flaws of this argument is its over-generalization and omission of human initiative, one of the most important traits of the human being. Supporters generalize about the vagrant by an unfair stereotype, negative image that they tend to commit a crime. However, a mind set for a specific group by no mean can accurately represent every individual in that group. Therefore, even though it is justifiable toShow MoreRelatedHow Law Is A Socialist Ideology Crafted By Bourgeoisie As Means Of Social Control1707 Words   |  7 Pagespromotes the dominant ideas. If ideas are shaped by the material world (Pavlich 90), and law is a system of rules that are legislated by a political body and govern social relations, then it might seem fair to conclude that law is associated ideology. This paper will analyze - in a Marxian fashion - how law is a ruling ideology crafted by bourgeoisie as means of social control. 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