Vagrant Nation : Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of The 1960s by Risa Goluboff book FB2, DJV
9780199768448 English 0199768447 America in the 1960s was a tumultuous time in which the status quo was confronted from a multitude of directions. People argued for the war and others protested against it; marginalized groups-especially gays and minorities-fought for rights long enjoyed by the ruling majority. This myriad of actors, movements, and issues resulted in no small amount of judicial action and precedent, but these knotty complications were thought to render thorough legal analyses of the time an impossible feat. In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff has found a groundbreaking way to explain how the interaction between 1960s social movements and the courts fundamentally changed both American law and society as a whole. To do so, Goluboff examines law on a micro level-focusing on the relatively minor crime of vagrancy-to reflect the macro-level changes of the time and shows how the courts were cast directly into the midst of the turmoil that swept the nation. Prior to the early 1950s, vagrancy laws were on the books virtually everywhere in the US. They served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order; you could be arrested for everything from causing a disturbance to behaving in a way contrary to the norm-fraternizing with a member of another race, for example, or publically preaching non-mainstream beliefs like communism. Given the fluid interpretation of vagrancy in this sense, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest almost any "nonconforming" person. The Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, which opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants-people who now occupied spaces previously off-limits to them. An exemplary legal investigation as well as a compelling narrative accessible to all, Vagrant Nation provides not only an informed analysis, but also a ground-up history-from Skid Row to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right. The results of these battles are abundantly evident today in both positive ways like increased openness and diversity in the use of public space and negative ways, especially the resulting explosion of homelessness. This focused look at what appeared at the time to be a very narrow law proves that major societal changes can come about not only in floods or waves, but in ripples., In 1950s America, it was remarkably easy for police to arrest almost anyone for almost any reason. The criminal justice system-and especially the age-old law of vagrancy-played a key role not only in maintaining safety and order but also in enforcing conventional standards of morality andpropriety. A person could be arrested for sporting a beard, making a speech, or working too little. Yet by the end of the 1960s, vagrancy laws were discredited and American society was fundamentally transformed. What happened? In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff provides a truly groundbreaking account of this transformation. By reading the history of the 1960s through the lens of vagrancy laws, Goluboff shows how constitutional challenges to long-standing police practices were at the center of the multiple movements thatmade "the 1960s." Vagrancy laws were not just about poor people. They were so broad and flexible-criminalizing everything from immorality to wandering about-that they made it possible for the police to arrest anyone out of place in any way: Beats and hippies; Communists and Vietnam War protestors;racial minorities, civil rights activists, and interracial couples; prostitutes, single women, and gay men, lesbians, and other sexual minorities. As hundreds of these "vagrants" and their lawyers claimed that vagrancy laws were unconstitutional, the laws became a flashpoint for debates aboutradically different visions of order and freedom. In Goluboff's compelling portrayal, the legal campaign against vagrancy laws becomes a sweeping legal and social history of the 1960s. It touches on movements advocating everything from civil rights to peace to gay rights to welfare rights to cultural revolution. As Goluboff links the human storiesof those arrested to the great controversies of the time, she makes coherent an era that often seems chaotic. She also powerfully demonstrates how ordinary people, with the help of lawyers and judges, can change the meaning of the Constitution. By 1972, the Supreme Court announced that vagrancy laws that had been a law enforcement staple for four hundred years were no longer constitutional. That decision, as well as the social movements and legal arguments that prompted it, has had major consequences for current debates about police powerand constitutional rights. Clashes over everything from stop and frisk to homelessness to public protests echo the same tension between order and freedom that vagrancy cases tried to resolve. Since the early 1970s, courts, policymakers, activists, and ordinary citizens have had to contend with themassive legal vacuum left by vagrancy law's downfall. Battles over what, if anything, should replace vagrancy laws, like battles over the legacy of the sixties transformations themselves, are far from over., Prior to the 1950s, it was remarkably easy for police to arrest people for a wide variety of activities performed in the streets. Throughout the country, vagrancy laws were far-reaching and pervasive. Yet by the end of the 1960s, streets across America hosted both massive political protests and a cultural revolution that reshaped not only the nation's public spaces, but more broadly its public life. For the era or against it, virtually all agreed that America after the 1960s was starkly different than before it. What happened? In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff provides a truly groundbreaking explanation of the transformation. Focusing on Court decisions that loosened vagrancy laws and opened up the streets to Americans in all their variety, she shows how legal change helped fuel highly public social movements advocating everything from civil rights to peace to gay rights to cultural revolution. Indeed, increased access to the streets increased their public presence and thereby social power. The book is a brilliant example of how a seemingly small event -alteratations to the relatively minor crime of vagrancy-can contribute to a social revolution. Not only that, Goluboff powerfully demonstrates how the courts can advance social change-make history, so to speak. The vagrancy laws were that were on the books virtually everywhere in the 1950s served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order; you could be arrested for everything from causing a disturbance to behaving in a way contrary to the norm-fraternizing with a member of another race, for example, or publically preaching non-mainstream beliefs like communism. Given the very fluid interpretation of vagrancy, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest almost any "nonconforming" person. Once the Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, it opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants-all the people occupying spaces previously off-limits to them. Goluboff's account is not just a investigation of the relationship between law and social change, however. It is also a ground-up history-from Skid Row to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right. The results of these battles are abundantly evident today in both positive ways--like the increased openness to all in America's public spaces--and negative ways--especially the explosion of homelessness afterward. In sum, she shows that major societal changes can result not only from big waves, but from seeming ripples too., The upheavals of the 1960s, with their multitude of actors and cross-cutting movements and issues, seem to defy legal analysis. Yet in People out of Place, Risa Goluboff has found a way to explain how the interaction between 1960s social movements and the courts fundamentally changed both American law and society writ large. By look at the changing views regarding a minor type of crime-vagrancy-Goluboff shows how the courts were cast directly into the midst of the turmoil sweeping the nation. Prior to the early 1950s, vagrancy laws were on the books virtually everywhere in the U.S., and they served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order. Given the looseness of the laws, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest virtually any iconoclast who didn't conform to conventional standards in the public square. When the Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, they opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants. As Goluboff argues, invalidating a seemingly minor and inconsequential set of laws had major consequences in American life that remain with us today. Not only did the Court's rulings usher in a much more diverse and expressive public life in American cities and towns, they had at least a minor influence on more troubling outcomes as well: an explosion of homelessness in the 1980s, and restrictions on the police that hampered their ability to arrest criminal suspects. Since the 1970s, the courts have wrestled with how to best restore the balance between freedom and order. An exemplary work of legal history as well as a compelling narrative accessible to all, People Out of Place is not simply a history of a colorful but minor legal issue or of the courts in the 1960s. It is also providing a truly ground-up history-from Skid Row the to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right, focusing on its origins in the 1960s and tracking how it played out in the Nixon and Reagan eras. And the results are evident everywhere today. We need only to compare what was allowable in public space sixty years ago with what is allowable now. There is far more expressiveness and diversity in our streets, parks, and public transportation spaces, and increasingly ingenious efforts by the forces of order to harness and restrict disruptive public activity. The difference between eras is stark, and the invalidation of vagrancy laws played a key role in this epochal change.
9780199768448 English 0199768447 America in the 1960s was a tumultuous time in which the status quo was confronted from a multitude of directions. People argued for the war and others protested against it; marginalized groups-especially gays and minorities-fought for rights long enjoyed by the ruling majority. This myriad of actors, movements, and issues resulted in no small amount of judicial action and precedent, but these knotty complications were thought to render thorough legal analyses of the time an impossible feat. In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff has found a groundbreaking way to explain how the interaction between 1960s social movements and the courts fundamentally changed both American law and society as a whole. To do so, Goluboff examines law on a micro level-focusing on the relatively minor crime of vagrancy-to reflect the macro-level changes of the time and shows how the courts were cast directly into the midst of the turmoil that swept the nation. Prior to the early 1950s, vagrancy laws were on the books virtually everywhere in the US. They served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order; you could be arrested for everything from causing a disturbance to behaving in a way contrary to the norm-fraternizing with a member of another race, for example, or publically preaching non-mainstream beliefs like communism. Given the fluid interpretation of vagrancy in this sense, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest almost any "nonconforming" person. The Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, which opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants-people who now occupied spaces previously off-limits to them. An exemplary legal investigation as well as a compelling narrative accessible to all, Vagrant Nation provides not only an informed analysis, but also a ground-up history-from Skid Row to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right. The results of these battles are abundantly evident today in both positive ways like increased openness and diversity in the use of public space and negative ways, especially the resulting explosion of homelessness. This focused look at what appeared at the time to be a very narrow law proves that major societal changes can come about not only in floods or waves, but in ripples., In 1950s America, it was remarkably easy for police to arrest almost anyone for almost any reason. The criminal justice system-and especially the age-old law of vagrancy-played a key role not only in maintaining safety and order but also in enforcing conventional standards of morality andpropriety. A person could be arrested for sporting a beard, making a speech, or working too little. Yet by the end of the 1960s, vagrancy laws were discredited and American society was fundamentally transformed. What happened? In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff provides a truly groundbreaking account of this transformation. By reading the history of the 1960s through the lens of vagrancy laws, Goluboff shows how constitutional challenges to long-standing police practices were at the center of the multiple movements thatmade "the 1960s." Vagrancy laws were not just about poor people. They were so broad and flexible-criminalizing everything from immorality to wandering about-that they made it possible for the police to arrest anyone out of place in any way: Beats and hippies; Communists and Vietnam War protestors;racial minorities, civil rights activists, and interracial couples; prostitutes, single women, and gay men, lesbians, and other sexual minorities. As hundreds of these "vagrants" and their lawyers claimed that vagrancy laws were unconstitutional, the laws became a flashpoint for debates aboutradically different visions of order and freedom. In Goluboff's compelling portrayal, the legal campaign against vagrancy laws becomes a sweeping legal and social history of the 1960s. It touches on movements advocating everything from civil rights to peace to gay rights to welfare rights to cultural revolution. As Goluboff links the human storiesof those arrested to the great controversies of the time, she makes coherent an era that often seems chaotic. She also powerfully demonstrates how ordinary people, with the help of lawyers and judges, can change the meaning of the Constitution. By 1972, the Supreme Court announced that vagrancy laws that had been a law enforcement staple for four hundred years were no longer constitutional. That decision, as well as the social movements and legal arguments that prompted it, has had major consequences for current debates about police powerand constitutional rights. Clashes over everything from stop and frisk to homelessness to public protests echo the same tension between order and freedom that vagrancy cases tried to resolve. Since the early 1970s, courts, policymakers, activists, and ordinary citizens have had to contend with themassive legal vacuum left by vagrancy law's downfall. Battles over what, if anything, should replace vagrancy laws, like battles over the legacy of the sixties transformations themselves, are far from over., Prior to the 1950s, it was remarkably easy for police to arrest people for a wide variety of activities performed in the streets. Throughout the country, vagrancy laws were far-reaching and pervasive. Yet by the end of the 1960s, streets across America hosted both massive political protests and a cultural revolution that reshaped not only the nation's public spaces, but more broadly its public life. For the era or against it, virtually all agreed that America after the 1960s was starkly different than before it. What happened? In Vagrant Nation, Risa Goluboff provides a truly groundbreaking explanation of the transformation. Focusing on Court decisions that loosened vagrancy laws and opened up the streets to Americans in all their variety, she shows how legal change helped fuel highly public social movements advocating everything from civil rights to peace to gay rights to cultural revolution. Indeed, increased access to the streets increased their public presence and thereby social power. The book is a brilliant example of how a seemingly small event -alteratations to the relatively minor crime of vagrancy-can contribute to a social revolution. Not only that, Goluboff powerfully demonstrates how the courts can advance social change-make history, so to speak. The vagrancy laws were that were on the books virtually everywhere in the 1950s served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order; you could be arrested for everything from causing a disturbance to behaving in a way contrary to the norm-fraternizing with a member of another race, for example, or publically preaching non-mainstream beliefs like communism. Given the very fluid interpretation of vagrancy, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest almost any "nonconforming" person. Once the Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, it opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants-all the people occupying spaces previously off-limits to them. Goluboff's account is not just a investigation of the relationship between law and social change, however. It is also a ground-up history-from Skid Row to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right. The results of these battles are abundantly evident today in both positive ways--like the increased openness to all in America's public spaces--and negative ways--especially the explosion of homelessness afterward. In sum, she shows that major societal changes can result not only from big waves, but from seeming ripples too., The upheavals of the 1960s, with their multitude of actors and cross-cutting movements and issues, seem to defy legal analysis. Yet in People out of Place, Risa Goluboff has found a way to explain how the interaction between 1960s social movements and the courts fundamentally changed both American law and society writ large. By look at the changing views regarding a minor type of crime-vagrancy-Goluboff shows how the courts were cast directly into the midst of the turmoil sweeping the nation. Prior to the early 1950s, vagrancy laws were on the books virtually everywhere in the U.S., and they served as a catchall device for police forces intent on establishing public order. Given the looseness of the laws, police inevitably abused it to the point where they could arrest virtually any iconoclast who didn't conform to conventional standards in the public square. When the Supreme Court began invalidating these laws, they opened up public space to any manner of dissenter or nonconformist: hippies, war protestors, civil rights activists, interracial couples, gays, and, of course, vagrants. As Goluboff argues, invalidating a seemingly minor and inconsequential set of laws had major consequences in American life that remain with us today. Not only did the Court's rulings usher in a much more diverse and expressive public life in American cities and towns, they had at least a minor influence on more troubling outcomes as well: an explosion of homelessness in the 1980s, and restrictions on the police that hampered their ability to arrest criminal suspects. Since the 1970s, the courts have wrestled with how to best restore the balance between freedom and order. An exemplary work of legal history as well as a compelling narrative accessible to all, People Out of Place is not simply a history of a colorful but minor legal issue or of the courts in the 1960s. It is also providing a truly ground-up history-from Skid Row the to the Supreme Court-of the culture wars between the New Left and New Right, focusing on its origins in the 1960s and tracking how it played out in the Nixon and Reagan eras. And the results are evident everywhere today. We need only to compare what was allowable in public space sixty years ago with what is allowable now. There is far more expressiveness and diversity in our streets, parks, and public transportation spaces, and increasingly ingenious efforts by the forces of order to harness and restrict disruptive public activity. The difference between eras is stark, and the invalidation of vagrancy laws played a key role in this epochal change.