sus laws

British  

plural noun

1. slang laws authorizing the arrest and punishment of suspected persons frequenting, or loitering in, public places with criminal intent. In England, the sus law formed part of the Vagrancy Act of 1824, repealed in 1981

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Example Sentences

During a period of sus laws and anti-union legislation, I already understood there had to be another version of freedom out there that included me, and I was busy piecing together the fragments of my own worldview.

From The Guardian

Police harassment was rife, and the notorious sus laws – where you could be arrested merely on an officer’s suspicion – were routinely abused and often ended in violence towards young black men.

From The Guardian

The rebellions in Brixton and elsewhere against the sus laws had shaken the nation; the Scarman Report was the first in Britain to take the police force to task for racial bias.

From The Guardian

Our track And It Wasn't a Dream was about our parents' experiences as immigrants coming into Hulme in the 50s, whereas Justice was about our experience with the sus laws.

From The Guardian

In addition to the backdrop of simmering racial tension, many within London's Afro-Caribbean communities were wary of the police due to their use of "sus" laws which allowed officers to routinely stop black people on suspicion of wrongdoing.

From BBC