Seattle goes through trash to create criminals

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Nanny State of the Week: Lawsuit challenges Seattle trash snooping
By Eric Boehm / July 20, 2015 / News / 30 Comments

Part 48 of 66 in the series Nanny State of the Week
By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org

If the cops in Seattle want to dig through a city resident’s garbage to look for evidence of a crime, they have to go get a warrant first.

But garbage collectors in Seattle are not only allowed to dig through the trash without a judge’s consent, they’re actually required to do so.



GOING THROUGH THE TRASH: Seattle is on the cutting edge of nanny state-ism with a new citywide ban on throwing any compostable material into the trash, no matter how gross, smelly or disgusting it might be. And the city government has deputized the trashmen as a sort of secret police who are being ordered to rat on residents’ trash habits.

Seattle is on the cutting edge of nanny state-ism with a new citywide ban on throwing any compostable material into the trash, no matter how gross, smelly or disgusting it might be. The city government is serious about this — so serious that they have deputized the trashmen as a sort of secret police who are being ordered to rat on residents’ trash habits to the nannies at Seattle Public Utilities.

If this sounds like an arrangement that violates a whole bunch of amendments to the U.S. Constitution (and the Washington State Constitution too, in the event you’re familiar with it), well, you’re not alone.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm that loves challenging ridiculous government regulations like this one, filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a state judge to shut down the Seattle trash-snooping program.

NOTE: This about half(? Less?) of the article and should include all needed/required info.

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Eric Boehm

Eric is the national regulatory reporter for Watchdog.org. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work has appeared in Reason Magazine, National Review Online, The Freeman Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Examiner and Fox News. He was once featured in a BuzzFeed list-icle. Follow him on Twitter @EricBoehm87.

 

Nothing new, Its already been in court, Once you put your trash out in public all bets are off.

 

Yeah, California has mandatory recycling, however, the law has no teeth at all. (There is NO penalty on the books) you could get ticketed a thousand times, and all they can do is give you another ticket.
But people KNOW it is required, and mostly comply.

 

It's Seattle, who knows what laws they have there regarding trash.

 

Just to mention: as a matter of basic OPSEC, trash should always be sanitized before it is set out. No correspondence, no old bills, no receipts, no product boxes--and nothing that can be composted.

Used tea leaves, for example, have been presented as marijuana for SWAT warrants, and an amazing number of ordinary food products taken from the garbage test positive for illegal drugs.

Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store is probable cause for a SWAT raid on your home

And whatever you do, don't give them any empty fertilizer bags--if they didn't decide you were a proven doper, they'd probably decide you were a proven terrorist bomb-maker.

 

Once it is set on the curb the expectation to privacy is gone. Now I will say I have dug through a few bags in my career but only when I have to like the neighbor calls about strange odors and the possibility of meth lab or a murder to recovering items from a robbery. At no time did I enjoy or want to do this without cause (Thank God for Boot Officers) but some Yankee cops are a little different..lol

 

Recyclable Material: The U.S.'s Most Controversial Export? - DailyFinance

 

I'll tell you a true story I was part of and it was only to teach a lesson to a a$$hole.. A friend of mine called me and ask what the deal with this new City Officer. I said well I'm not sure I don't really know him. I'm a Deputy and try to stay out in County and let City handle their own. Well he went on to tell me every time he goes out this Officer stops him tries to search his vehicle and asks all these off the wall questions, he had even seen him search his trash twice on camera. My friend loves to shoot guns drive an old Ford painted OD green and just likes to be left alone. So I told I would talk to him. The next day I met the Office who had only been out of the academy maybe a year and was going to be a super hero. I started talking to him and was telling the guy was a good guy and just stayed to himself and had help the Sheriff's office out a lot. Well he didn't see it that way and told me Sarg I respect you and the other Officers have told that you are good at the job and the citizens like you but times have changed and I know this guy is a threat. At this point I left and called some other guys including several from his department. We all have larg dogs to clean up after and the next morning we all did so collecting it in trash bags along with a little pig $hit and taking it to my friends house. Mixing it in the bag into a nasty thick paste with water and filling around 50 condoms with mayo. My friend had a airbag out of a Toyota and also had retired as a mechanic from Toyota. The bags were placed at the end of his drive with several other bags on. We all met at the City PD when the Super Hero came on duty man was he shinny. We talked about how he must of had a good weekend party because of all the bags at the end of drive and left. We all got some beer and pizza and went to my friends house to watch the cameras. Around 1130 pm headlights around 1135 a boom and it actually rained $hit. The Officer was covered head to toe along with the crusier. Next day there were pictures and a video of $hitman. Now the hero works at a local furniture store..lol