|
|
От
|
Chestnut
|
|
|
К
|
Chestnut
|
|
|
Дата
|
19.04.2006 14:30:12
|
|
|
Рубрики
|
Прочее;
|
|
статья о бродяжничестве
vagrancy -- state or action of one who has no established home and drifts from place to place without visible or lawful means of support. Traditionally a vagrant was thought to be one who was able to work for his maintenance but preferred instead to live idly, often as a beggar. The punishment for this ranged from branding and whipping to conscription into the military services and transportation to penal colonies. In English law, a man who deserted his wife and children was considered a vagrant, as was any man who gave a false account of himself.
The vagueness of the common-law meanings of vagrancy has been reflected in subsequent statutory law. In the United States and northern Europe, vagrancy must generally be accompanied by the act of begging before it becomes punishable. Usually local authorities merely encourage the vagrant to move on, relieving themselves of the financial burden of maintaining the offender. In some countries the term describes a more serious offense than begging. Often it applies to a person who has a fixed habitation but pursues a calling condemned by the law as immoral, such as prostitution or gambling.
In hoc signo vinces