In Re McCue

Application for writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner is serving a sentence. imposed on account of a violation of subdivision 5, section 647, Penal Code. This sub division provides: “Every idle or lewd or dissolute person, or associate of known thieves, ... is a vagrant.” It is insisted that this subdivision is void, in that the constituent elements entering into the crime are not defined, and as a consequence one charged thereunder is subject to the arbitrary meaning given by the court to the words employed; that it denounces a penalty against one who is either idle, lewd or dissolute without reference to the circumstances or conditions or acts of such person, or their effect as injuriously affecting the public health or morals. We are inclined to the view that while idleness, whether it be that of the “idle rich” or “idle poor,” is a prolific source of crime, still it is not competent for the legislature to denounce mere inaction as a crime without some qualification. But this cannot be said of lewdness or dissoluteness—terms often used interchangeably but each of which applies to the unlawful indulgence of lust, whether in public or private. “Any practice the tendency of which, as…