The Vagrancy Arrests

Five consolidated cases from Jacksonville, Florida, produced eight defendants arrested on various occasions for violations of the city's vagrancy ordinance. Among those arrested were two white women and two Black men — all four arrested together in the early morning hours while riding in a car. Their arrest report listed them as "suspicious characters." Another Defendant had $150 in his pocket and a draft card but was arrested as a "vagrant." The Jacksonville ordinance was a sweeping relic of English law, criminalizing a sprawling list of categories: "vagabonds, rogues, vagrants, common gamblers, persons who neglect their calling or employment, persons without visible means of support, night walkers, common drunkards, common thieves, lewd persons, wanton or lascivious persons," and others. The ordinance gave Police complete discretion over whom to arrest — there were no objective standards; essentially anyone could be charged under some part of it. Their convictions were affirmed by the Florida Circuit Court.