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Does nothing to state ownership or validate trespass on to private property to obtain such.
Quote:
Originally Posted by workingclasshero
the fact is if you threw it out, it is no longer yours and if its at the curb (which is not really your property, but the EDGE of your property,)(in fact it is considered PUBLIC property) its available for ANYONE to take, or go through
that's why they tell you to be careful what you throw out (ie bank statements, etc)
If it is still on my property, it most certainly is. Until I hand it over, it is mine, under my control and my ownership.
If it is off my property as you even note (placed at a curb where it is considered public property), then you are correct. I am aware of the public zone that meets the property line on various properties. In many rural areas this line is often set back 5-10 feet to the property (usually you can tell by looking at utility poles and the like to get a rough idea as to where your private property starts from public.
My point is not about such issues, but when it is on private property. For instance, I keep my can behind a fence near my garage door. This is completely on private property and under my full control. Anything within that can is my property until I place the can at the public portion of my property for pick up. At that point, I have relinquished control over such.
My point is not about such issues, but when it is on private property. For instance, I keep my can behind a fence near my garage door. This is completely on private property and under my full control. Anything within that can is my property until I place the can at the public portion of my property for pick up. At that point, I have relinquished control over such.
yes if it is actually within your property then no they(or anyone) cant tresspess
but at the curb (or outside the easement) (or what ever the technical terms are) it becomes public property
the other day I threw out a old walk behind lawn mower that the engine was blown..put it at the curb...less than a half an hour it was gone....bucuase I put it out to PUBLIC area for the taking
Last edited by workingclasshero; 06-14-2011 at 12:30 PM..
Reason: fixing my horrible typing
Did anyone take the time to read the New York Times story that was the basis for this blog post, apparently not since there is absolutely no mention of garbage cans, trash receptacles or any such. And I know for a fact that no one has taken the time to read California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988). Reading either would have put a nail in the head of this thread long ago.
So in the attempt to save bandwidth and allow folks to turn their attention to less frivolous topics, the Cliff Notes:
Writing for the majority Justice White;
Held:
1. The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home. Pp. 486 U. S. 39-44.
(a) Since respondents voluntarily left their trash for collection in an area particularly suited for public inspection, their claimed expectation of privacy in the inculpatory items they discarded was not objectively reasonable. It is common knowledge that plastic garbage bags left along a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public. Moreover, respondents placed their refuse at the curb for the express purpose of conveying it to a third party, the trash collector, who might himself have sorted through it or permitted others, such as the police, to do so. The police cannot reasonably be expected to avert their eyes from evidence of criminal activity that could have been observed by any member of the public. Pp. 486 U. S. 43-44.
Now if you disagree I suspect that the descent of Justices Brennan and Marshall may provide some solace as irrelevant as it once to the final outcome.
I added this quote from the decision because I thought it was funny;
For example, State v. Ronngren, 361 N.W.2d 224 (N. D.1985), involved the search of a garbage bag that a dog, acting "at the behest of no one," id. at 228, had dragged from the defendants' yard into the yard of a neighbor. The neighbor deposited the bag in his own trash can, which he later permitted the police to search. The North Dakota Supreme Court held that the search of the garbage bag did not violate the defendants' Fourth Amendment rights.
...The reasonableness of a search for Fourth Amendment purposes does not depend upon privacy concepts embodied in the law of the particular State in which the search occurred; rather, it turns upon the understanding of society as a whole that certain areas deserve the most scrupulous protection from government invasion. There is no such understanding with respect to garbage left for collection at the side of a public street. Pp. 486 U. S. 43-44.
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