2025-05-24
50 分钟The Economist.
The Vagabond Act of 1572 introduced a tax to help pay for services for the poor.
It shifted that responsibility from the church to the state,
but it also laid out specific penalties for vagrancy.
Any rogues, vagabonds, or sturdy beggars, the act declared,
shall be burnt through the gristle of the right ear with a hot iron.
The same sentiment towards vagrancies, homelessness, was brought to the New World.
Where the colonies and eventually the states imposed their own anti-vagrancy laws.
Some criminalized a status, but last year the U.S.
Supreme Court permitted local authorities to criminalize conduct
when it ruled the ordinance banning sleeping outside in Grants Pass,
Oregon, did not violate the Eighth Amendment.
The court determined that punishing people for public camping could not be considered cruel and unusual.
I'm John Pridow, and this is Checks and Balance from The Economist.
Each week we take one big theme, shaping American politics, and explore it in depth.
Homelessness in America.
Democratic mayors and governors are taking increasingly strict measures to prevent people from sleeping on the streets.
Is this new approach the right one?
And what's changed in the year since the Supreme Court allowed cities to ban public camping?
With me this week to talk about street homelessness in America