Court Opinion

ID: 9448646
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:42:14.833908+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:31.148216
License: Public Domain

DARR, District Judge
(concurring).
I concur in the opinion of Judge MILLER. However, I believe that an arrest for vagrancy does not warrant a search extending beyond the person of the vagrant. There would be no reason to search a house or an automobile as an incident to such arrest. An able-bodied person, who is loitering without visible means of support, may be arrested by police officers for vagrancy, his person searched to insure safe custody, but nothing connected with the offense could be found by an extended search.
My judgment is that the offense of vagrancy falls into the same category as minor traffic violations. The rule on incidental search of automobiles in connection with the arrest for minor traffic violations is,
“Where an accused is arrested for a minor traffic violation committed in the presence of an officer, there is no reason for the arresting officer to explore the glove compartment or search the trunk of the car, absent additional cause, and such search is considered unreasonable and any evidence procured thereby, rendered inadmissible.” Varón, Searches, Seizures and Immunities (1961), Vol. 1, pages 107, 108.
But I believe the search of the car in this case was warranted in that the circumstances, as recited in Judge MILLER’S opinion, set up probable cause to justify the action of the police officers. One of the purposes for making vagrancy an offense is to prevent crime, as it is considered that criminal action will flow from the mode of life of a vagrant. Therefore, the search by the police officers was reasonable to ascertain whether the automobile carried illegal instrumentalities which might be used in the commission of a crime.