Macklin
Inactive
The more clearly we see the sovereignty of God, the less preplexed we are by the calamities of men.
Posts: 1,701
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Post by Macklin on Sept 30, 2003 4:23:30 GMT -6
Monday, Sept. 29, 2003 N.H. Court Trashes Private Garbage Search By KATHARINE WEBSTER Associated Press Writer CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled Monday that garbage is private, even when it has been put out near the street for collection. The 4-1 decision runs counter to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and high courts in most other states. But the court said New Hampshire's constitution provides a stronger expectation of privacy than the U.S. Constitution. The decision came in a case in which police searched a man's trash and found wire scrapers coated with marijuana residue. Based on that and the observation that John Goss appeared to have a light for growing plants, police got a warrant to search his home, where they seized marijuana and three pipes. Goss appealed, saying it was illegal for police to search his garbage without a warrant. The high court agreed and ordered a lower court judge to decide whether the search warrant for Goss' home could have been obtained without the illegal evidence. "Personal letters, bills, receipts, prescription bottles and similar items that are regularly disposed of in household trash disclose information about the resident that few people would want to be made public," Justice Joseph Nadeau said. "Nor do we believe that people voluntarily expose such information to the public when they leave trash, in sealed bags, out for regular collection." Justice John Broderick dissented, citing a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it was unreasonable for people to expect their trash to remain private, given that "plastic garbage bags left on or at the side of a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public." Here is a link For the court case: www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2003/goss120.htm |
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Post by Donnie on Feb 15, 2004 19:13:16 GMT -6
Only in NH.
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Post by beachlover1978 on Feb 19, 2004 23:42:22 GMT -6
I have to agree with this one. I don't want people snooping around in my garbage. And NO I have nothing to hide.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2004 2:11:29 GMT -6
While most people would not want someone going through their trash, the reason the Supreme Court ruled that trash is fair game for a warrentless search is because there is not an expectation of privacy that society is willing to accept. They used the Privacy Test developed in Katz v. U.S. that set up a two pronged test. 1. Subjective Prong - Is there a personal expectation of privacy? 2. Objective Prong - Is there an expectation that society is willing to recognize? The actual case about garbage is California v. Greenwood. The Court said that garbage left on the street is readily available to anyone who walks by. A homeless person, a kid, or a curious neighbor all could look through the abandoned property on the curb. They have also ruled in other cases that things that ordinary citizens do, like useing binoculars to look in a window, is permissible by police. States must be Constitutionally Subserviant, but they may give more protection than the Constitution.
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