Hattie Mae Ricks and Joseph N. Williams v. United States

SPOTTSWOOD W. ROBINSON, III, Circuit Judge:

In Ricks v. District of Columbia (Ricks I), 1 decided today, we hold that three subsections of the District of Columbia’s “general vagrancy” law 2 are unconstitutionally vague. Before us now is a simi lar challenge 3 to the “narcotic vagrancy” act 4 in operation in the District. Like its Ricks I prototype, this statute sets forth alternative definitions of a “vagrant” 5 — a term here involving indispensably narcotic drug usage or past conviction of a narcotic offense 6 — and makes vagrancy under its provisions a misdemeanor. 7 And like the general…