RUBBISH! Portland's top brass said it was OK to swipe your garbage--so we grabbed theirs.

Willamette Week ^ | 12/24/02 | by CHRIS LYDGATE AND NICK BUDNICK

[Brian Mosely]

It's past midnight. Over the whump of the wipers and the screech of the fan belt, we lurch through the side streets of Southeast Portland in a battered white van, double-checking our toolkit: flashlight, binoculars, duct tape, scissors, watch caps, rawhide gloves, vinyl gloves, latex gloves, trash bags, 30-gallon can, tarpaulins, Sharpie, notebook--notebook?

Well, yes. Technically, this is a journalistic exercise--at least, that's what we keep telling ourselves. We're upholding our sacred trust as representatives of the Fourth Estate. Comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable. Pushing the reportorial envelope--by liberating the trash of Portland's top brass.

We didn't dream up this idea on our own. We got our inspiration from the Portland police.

Back in March, the police swiped the trash of fellow officer Gina Hoesly. They didn't ask permission. They didn't ask for a search warrant. They just grabbed it. Their sordid haul, which included a bloody tampon, became the basis for drug charges against her (see "Gross Violation," below).

The news left a lot of Portlanders--including us--scratching our heads. Aren't there rules about this sort of thing? Aren't citizens protected from unreasonable search and seizure by the Fourth Amendment?

[Brian Mosely]

Interesting piece here. They sure don't like it when the tables are turned....

Source: http://www.ci.portland.or.us/mayor/press5/garbagsta.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sarah Bott December 18, 2002 Phone: (503) 823-3442 Pager: (503) 323-1041 E-mail: sbott@ci.portland.or.us

STATEMENT BY MAYOR VERA KATZ ABOUT WILLAMETTE WEEK

"My trash and recycling receptacles are picked up not from a curbside location, but from my private property. Both receptacles were covered. Willamette Week trespassed on my private property, opened up my trash and recycling receptacles and rifled through my trash and recycling, and took several items.

"Willamette Week's trespass onto my property and opening up my trash and recycling receptacles is a very different circumstance than the recent court case involving the police bureau's seizure of trash placed in the public right of way as evidence during a criminal investigation.

"I feel I need to speak out against Willamette Week's actions: if they can do it to me they could do anyone else.

"I consider Willamette Week's actions in this matter to be potentially illegal and absolutely unscrupulous and reprehensible. I will consider all my legal options in response to their actions.

"As U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan pointed out in his dissent in California v. Greenwood (1988) in discussing similar actions of a tabloid reporter who went through then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's trash and published his findings..." The public response roundly condemning the reporter demonstrates that society not only recognized those reactions as reasonable, but shared them as well. Commentators variously characterized his conduct as "a disgusting invasion of personal privacy," Flieger, Investigative Trash, U.S. News & World Report, July 28, 1975, p. 72 (editor's page); "indefensible... as civilized behavior," Washington Pst, July 10, 1975, p. A18, col. 1 (editorial); and contrary to "the way decent people behave in relation to each other."

###

[mewzilla]

Hoist with your own petard, eh Vera? How fitting.

[tob2]

tampons = drug charges? That will be news to millions of women everywhere. Only a man could think up something like that.

[OXENinFLA]

Now THAT'S reporting.

[RKV]

blood testing, OK?

[Glenn]

Now THAT'S reporting.

It certainly is. I wish they'd been a little more confrontational, though. Politicians say such stupid things when cornered.

[sandydipper]

Common practice - we do it all the time. Mostly divorce cases where the object of the search is for some damning evidence that the other party is doing something illegal - e.g. - drugs.

[SamKeck]

Interesting article, and exactly the reason why, not long ago, I invested in a paper shredder for my office at home.

[RGSpincich]

The trash and recycling containers are owned by the garbage company in my local. They claim ownership of the contents at curbside. Thus, the contents are never abandoned and it is illegal to rummage through the containers.

[Ace the Biker]

I carry my trash to large dumpsters at work and throw it away just before the pick up where it is compacted in the truck. Not that I have much to worry about but who knows these days and the less I can reveal the better.

[madfly]

ping

[G.Mason]

"Interesting article, and exactly the reason why, not long ago, I invested in a paper shredder for my office at home."

Excellent!

Now, do you have a DNA eraser?

[jimtorr]

"Thus, the contents are never abandoned and it is illegal to rummage through the containers."

In the Supreme Court case cited by Vera, the court ruled that all items that have been discarded by the owner is abandoned property, unless it is secured in such a way that a reasonable person would not expect to be able to gain access to it (or words to that affect). That usually means locked up.

The trash company can make ownership claims all it likes, but unless the container lid is locked, their claims are only that.

[CT]

Happy New Year, Brian.

Portland bumper sticker seen recently: I'm Allergic to Katz

[Jerry Attrick]

The Willamette Week is one of the most leftist rags in America today, so it is interesting that they would attack their darling Vera Katz. The only answer is that they literally hate the police more than they love Vera Katz and her politics. The other reason for their actions is that this case involved someone getting busted for drugs.

WW's priorities are: 1)gays, 2)druggies, 3)abortionists, 4)anarchists, 5)anything Democrat 6)communists, etc.

WW's most hated people/causes: 1)Anything Christian, 2) anything Republican, 3)pro-lifers, 4)business and business owners, etc........

The Willamette Week is nothing but trash. I would fear someone ever finding it in my garbage. But then, that will never happen.

[Brian Mosely]

I sort of figured that while reading the article, but the double-standard the city has speaks volumes to the liberal mind set of that part of the country. Even when fellow leftists point out their shortcomings, they get all in a huff about it.

[Jerry Attrick]

Yep.

After 30 years of living there, I moved to Eastern Washington.(home) I can't tell you the difference! It is wonderful...and the county I live in just voted out the last remaining Democrat that held any kind of office here. LOL! I knew I was home!

I love Portland and that area, but the frustration at having that pocket of liberals there control the mis-fortunes of the entire state became too much for me. I know that Washington isn't much better, but at least I live in an "ethically" cleansed area of the state. :)

[Nick Thimmesch]

m

[antaresequity]

I do the same thing. I do not have garbage service and have actually been threatened by the city that I am in violation of the law. I raised the arguement that my trash contains personel and private information, and that unless and until they could insure absolute privacy of my garbage in writing, I would choose alternative methods of disposal. I shred, use my neighbors recycle bin, compost organics...and use a dumpster when I actually have to "throw somthing away".

Its truly unfortunate that passive privacy is non existent in this country...

[Doctor Raoul]

If they went on his property to do that, then it is illegal.

[Doctor Raoul]

The Willamette Week is one of the most leftist rags in America today, so it is interesting that they would attack their darling Vera Katz. The only answer is that they literally hate the police more than they love Vera Katz and her politics. The other reason for their actions is that this case involved someone getting busted for drugs.

Being a hater is central to being a liberal. It's hate, not love, that motivates them.

[RGSpincich]

In the Supreme Court case cited by Vera

As I understand it, that ruling, and several others, pertain to police and government searches. I don't think it allows identity thieves, vagrants, recycle thieves and reporters unfettered access to your containers.

[2sheep]

Interesting. Can you identify Vera Katz' priorities and most hated people as you have done for WW?

[smoking camels]

I burn my trash and then haul the metal and glass stuff that is left to the landfill.

[Beelzebubba]

Mayor Vera Katz: My trash and recycling receptacles are picked up not from a curbside location, but from my private property.

How nice that the garbage man will perform a special service for the elites that he won't perform for the proles.

Here is Vera, for those of you who need an image to go with her words:

[tob2]

Gross! Ask the women in your life how they feel about it.

[RKV]

Of course its gross. I have had to buy and dispose of my share of tampons (for a man that is, and I always run into another woman that I know when I am buying for my wife). The reality is that this persons refuse is being used to test for dope without their consent. That offends me much more than the biological products of a woman's menstrual cycle.

[csvset]

There's another thread about this Here

It's worth checking out. I posted the linked story regarding Officer Gina.

[RKV]

Thanks (or not) for the pix. What a "Hogatha!"

[cyncooper]

Common practice - we do it all the time. Mostly divorce cases where the object of the search is for some damning evidence that the other party is doing something illegal - e.g. - drugs.

This is a repost. On the original thread I pointed out that back in the seventies I attended an archaeology class where garbage research was conducted by the prof and some students (he presented their findings in class).

I always thought it was common knowledge that garbage was "go throughable" if one were to desire to do so.

[cyncooper]

Now THAT'S reporting.

It is, though their premise was false (no surprise. I understand this is a lib paper/reporter). Now if they would turn their attention to real crime and get half as stirred up about it I would applaud.

[Old Professer]

Before I left California, Los Angeles began issuing recycling containers intended for aluminum cans and other accepted materials. Soon, streets were dotted with yellow plastic boxes on pickup days; the only problem was that by the time the trucks arrived, the boxes had been emptied of the aluminum cans and only the less-valuable items remained.

The city retaliated by declaring all garbage and recyclables once placed on the curb to be the property of the city and any removal of items from the containers would be treated as theft and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

[Old Professer]

If they went on his property to do that, then it is illegal.

Here in Nashville it is unclear where my property lie is in the front of my house streetside; the city claims the piece from a line drawn through the power pole and the water meter cover all along the street. However, the line is not straight and the power line crosses the street just past my driveway.

I went through this when they pulled political signs from my yard; I put them back up after yelling at everyone in the city attorney's office and they didn't take them that time.

[Brian Mosely]

Thanks...

[SamKeck]

Now, do you have a DNA eraser?

Nah, but in as much as we use regular Q-Tips to clean the wax out of our Basset Hound's ears, I figure that even if we can't beat 'em on the DNA front, we can at least confuse the crap out of 'em for a day or two.

[BigBobber]

Why is "real crime" (I suppose you mean someone knocking over a 7-11 or running red lights) a more important subject for journalists than exposing the hypocrisy of public officials?

I love this kind of stuff. Especially when the targets are liberal Democrats.

[cyncooper]

Why is "real crime" (I suppose you mean someone knocking over a 7-11 or running red lights) a more important subject for journalists than exposing the hypocrisy of public officials?

LOL

No, I meant all "real crime" over which these libs wring their hands if it is a run-of-the-mill robber or murderer, or defend if it is a political figure with whom they identify.

I was just agreeing that when they put their minds to it they can do real investigative work.

[jimtorr]

As I understand it, that ruling, and several others, pertain to police and government searches. I don't think it allows identity thieves, vagrants, recycle thieves and reporters unfettered access to your containers.

It appears to me that you have several issues mixed up there with the concept of abandoned property.

No, it is not legal to exploit someone elses identity, or to steal recyclables.

However, abandoned property such as the contents of the trash container you've placed out near the sidewalk, are fair game for anybody to rummage through. It's like the "peeping tom" laws in many places, where it's not illegal peeping if anybody walking by on the sidewalk can see through the curtains you have neglected to close. If the contianer is on private property, that's a trespassing issue, not theft.

Abandoned property is abandoned property, it doesn't matter who wants it. If anything, government has less rights to search through my garbage than you do. Many restaurants, for example, have tried to keep vagrants out of their dumpsters. Legally they can't, though, unless they build a wall around it to keep people out. Then it becomes illegal to scale the wall.

[Congressman Billybob]

I had a major criminal case in Baltimore that hinged on whether the police could examine the contents of a trash can without getting a warrant. The law is very clear on this point. Because trash is by definition "trash," meaning that it has been thrown away with no intention of recovery or privacy, police (or anyone else including reporters) are free to root through it and find whatever they find.

Please note that the legal argument that Mayor Wilma Katz advanced for why this was wrong, came from the dissent in the case cited. In short, it came from the LOSING side. Guess that makes Mayor Katz a loser.

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest column on UPI, "Incision Decision in the Senate" (Not yet on UPI wire, or FR.)

As the politician formerly known as Al Gore has said, Buy my book, "to Restore Trust in America"

[Jerry Attrick]

The list would be the same. :)

[Doctor Raoul]

What about it if I walk up your drive and onto your property to get at it?

[Hunble]

I nominate this for some kind of reward. This is exactly what the media should be doing.

O U T S T A N D I N G!

[tob2]

Read the entire article and I agree it is gross to invade a person's privacy in that manner. Use my cross-cut paper shreder frequently and if something is very "sensetive", I take it to the landfill.

[Hunble]

Last year, the city that I live in passed an ordinance requiring me to allow inspectors into my personal home.

As specified int he city ordinance, "if you do not allow the inspectors inside of your home, you will be fined $100 per month."

Nobody saw the danger in this?

No search warrant was required, since the property was in violation until proved innocent.

Sneaky way to get around our Constitutional rights as citizens, since your property does not have any rights.

[RGSpincich]

You have explained it quite well, thank you. Shredder time.

[Congressman Billybob]

You're right, if the trash can is well onto private property there would be a trespassing problem. However, the garbage men will not come a distance onto your property to get your trash. It has to be at the curb, or at the edge of the alley, to be reachable for the garbage men.

As long as the trash collectors can reach the container from public property (as intended), anyone else can also reach the container and root through the contents. For practical reasons, the narrow issue you raise does not usually apply.

Billybob

[EBUCK]

Vera, Vera...you blustering hag...had does it feel???

LingOL EBUCK

[EBUCK]

Thanks Mad..

Big Oregon Ping.WW rifles thru Portland elites' garbage to make a point.

...if you want off let me know...

EBUCK

[WaterDragon]

I love this article! Nothing like hoisting the nitwits by their own petard! LOLOLOLOLOL!