People v. Superior Court

I dissent.

Vagrancy laws have traditionally been used to clear the streets of persons who have committed no crime but are nevertheless deemed repugnant to *403segments of society. “These statutes are in a class by themselves, in view of the familiar abuses to which they are put. . . . Definiteness is designedly avoided so as to allow the net to be cast at large, to enable men to be caught who are vaguely undesirable in the eyes of the police and prosecution, although not chargeable with any particular offense.” (Winters v. New York (1948) 333 U.S. 507, 540 [92 L.Ed. 840, 862, 68 S.Ct. 665] (dis.…