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66 Harv. L. Rev. 1203 (1952-1953)
Vagrancy and Other Crimes of Personal Condition

handle is hein.journals/hlr66 and id is 1251 raw text is: VAGRANCY AND OTHER CRIMES OF PERSONAL CONDITION t Forrest W. Lacey * I. INTRODUCTION C RIMES are traditionally defined in terms of acts or failure to act,' and it is usually stated that an act or failure to act is an essential element of a crime.' However, a recent dissenting opinion by Mr. Justice Black 3 calls attention to the fact that there are in our legal system several crimes the essential element of which consists not in proscribed action or inaction, but in the accused's having a certain personal condition or being a person of a specified character. Not only are such crimes well recog- nized by the courts,4 but in recent years several states have created new crimes of this nature,5 and there is a persistent demand by law enforcement officials and legal writers for their extension.' Vagrancy is the principal crime in which the offense consists of being a certain kind of person rather than in having done or failed to do certain acts. Other crimes of this nature include being a common drunkard, common prostitute, common thief, tramp, or disorderly person. All of these offenses are characterized by the fact that they t This paper has been submitted to the Faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the S.J.D. degree. * Assistant Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law. A.B., Indiana University, 1939, LL.B., 1941; LL.M., University of Michigan, 1951. ' A crime may be generally defined as the commission or omission of an act which the law forbids or commands . . . . MILLER, CRIMINAL LAW x6 (1934); Crime is an act . . . which is believed to be socially harmful by a group of people which has the power to enforce its beliefs .... GiLIN, CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOL- OGY 9 (3d ed. 1945). 2DANGEL, CRIMINAL LAW 56 (1951); SNYDER, CRIMINAL JUSTICE 110 (I953). 1 Edelman v. California, 344 U.S. 357, 364-66 (1953). 4 See, e.g., Commonwealth v. O'Brien, 179 Mass. 533, 61 N.E. 213 (1901) (Holmes, J.); People v. Babb, x0E3L Cal. App.2d 326, 229 P.2d 843 (1951). 'E.g., the so-called Public Enemy Act, N.Y. PENAL LAW § 722(XI); New Jersey Gangster Act, N.J. REv. STAT. § 2:136-1 (1937), held unconstitutional in Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U.S. 451 (1939). 6 See, e.g., Hearings before Subcommittee of Committee on Commerce Pursuant to S. Res. 74, 73d Cong., 2d. Sess. I35, 209 (1933); Sullivan, The Public Enemy Act in New York, 5 BROxLYN L. REV. 62 (i935). 1203

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