The Origin of Vagrancy Laws and the Relation to Law Today

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The earliest vagrancy laws in England paved the way for today’s criminal law. These first laws lead to the creation of criminal law. Criminal law and the origin of vagrancy laws have created lasting ramification for today’s criminal justice system. The very creation of the laws by the elitist members of society to control the masses has highlighted the continue path of these trends. The laws are designed to control the poor and keep them from disturbing or inconveniencing those who maintain social control.
Vagrancy Origins
The article “A Sociological Analysis of the Law of Vagrancy” by William Chambliss observes the creation of vagrancy and the social situations surrounding their creation. The article starts off by discussing the first precursor to vagrancy law, which was originally designed to alleviate the burden on churches from having to feed and lodge so many travelers. The progression to the first vagrancy law is then presented. The original vagrancy laws had very little in the way punishment. The laws were designed to better tie a worker to his lord. The goal was to keep serfs from moving and to force all able workers to work. The intent of this law was to provide the land controlling lords with an adequate work force. The punishment on these laws then became progressively worse. The workforce altered to become more free laborers rather than serfs so laws were enacted to require workers to accept any work they were offered and not be able to leave the area they worked in to go somewhere else. This law was enacted because free workers were expensive and the lords could not afford to hire enough to work the land. This law was a method of labor price control. The penalty for refusing to accept the work offered...

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...hose who are forced to do what they must to get by or have lived a hard life of lack receive the brunt of the justice system. The justice system should protect those that need help the most not perpetuate the grave injustices of today. The justice system needs a major overhaul so that those who do not have opportunities or resources are not punished for their lack. Justice should focus of rehabilitating those who have committed crimes and giving them a chance to build a better life. Justice is not persecuting the poor for the benefit of the wealthy. Justice is deterring a person from committing and crime and after the crime putting them in a better place than they started. Justice is giving people a chance to better themselves and not just be a pawn of the system. True justice would require a bottom-up restructuring of what justice should enact and represent.

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