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Going Through the Garbage

Posted by michael on from the taking-out-the-trash dept.

frankejames writes "This is a very funny piece on how Portland politicians said it was okay for police to seize a citizen's garbage without a search warrant. But when some reporters swiped their garbage (and reported the contents!) they screamed foul play! Read Portland's top brass said it was OK to swipe your garbage--so we grabbed theirs."

7 of 624 comments (clear)

  1. They have every right by unterderbrucke · · Score: -1, Troll

    "police to seize a citizen's garbage without a search warrant. But when some reporters swiped their garbage (and reported the contents!) they screamed foul play!"

    Because being a policeman myself, I know that by the time a search warrant is signed off by a judge and executed (around a week), the trash will be long gone. So, the policeman have a perfectly valid arguement.

    The councilman have every right to call foul play, because the police are an investigation bureaucracy devoted to helping people (legally), while the reporters are going through garbage in order to report what bills the councilman paid last week (illegally).

    Wheter the reporters were trying to make a point or not, they still broke the law.

    1. Re:They have every right by unterderbrucke · · Score: -1, Troll

      "Why not work on shortening the time required instead of giving more leeway to the police?"

      Some people just don't have an incentive to work quickly, and in this case the judge doesn't have an incentive. In fact, if he hurries the process he could end up approving a warrant for a wrong person, which happened once with me.

      It was Thanksgiving week, so we were waiting for a lot of warrants to be approved and the judge was only in for two days out of the normal five. We were out to get a Mafia hitman, and the judge wrote the wrong name and address on the warrant. Needless to say, we showed up at the address and name on the warrant (we didn't know any better, we we just muscle for the detective on the case), and we found a 75 year old grandmother in tears because she thought she was going to jail for tax evasion.

      Also, government doesn't take well to being told to speed up. Remember how when you first got your drivers license it took you an hour and a half to get through all the DMV paperwork? Now, remember when you renewed your license and it took the same time as it did as when you first got your license?

    2. Re:They have every right by unterderbrucke · · Score: -1, Troll

      But, if we don't have just cause we aren't allowed to search your garbage.

      So, if I do search your garbage and publicize it's contents, and it turns out that you aren't guilty of whatever I'm investigating you for, I'm in deep shit. You can sue me or whatever you want.

      Once, when we were working on a Hispanic drug dealer case, we sent in a warrant to look for drug dealer supplements in his garbage (half-used joints, cloth with coke residue on it, etc.). It didn't get approved for two weeks (due to nothing but slow buereaucracy) and as a result this drug dealer was able to get away with three murders in the mean time.

  2. Stephen King, author, dead at 55 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll


    I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Horror/Sci Fi writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.

  3. Re:If you... by Max+Threshold · · Score: 1, Troll
    Not to disparage the work of sanitation engineers, but I think teachers should make at least as much...

    <rant>

    You know, I'm tired of hearing this. Most teachers are making comfortable wages already, certainly better than most working-class people. And most of 'em aren't worth what they're getting. They see themselves as intellectuals, and a precious few of them are, but most of them are just regurgitating garbage and complaining a lot.

    What teachers really need is more freedom instead of arbitrary standards. The hell with standardized testing.

    There are too few good teachers to go around, and too many kids in each class. The kids spend too much time in the classroom. They get burned out on learning. Kids should be out playing. The hell with school five days a week. How about two classes, M-W-F and Tu-Th-Sa?

    Oh yeah, I am studying to be a teacher. And I will work for peanuts and work six days a week. Just let me do my job, that's all I'm gonna ask.

    </rant>

  4. That just goes to show you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Don't put pregnant women in the trash!

  5. Re:Superjew by unterderbrucke · · Score: -1, Troll

    He's really jewish.
    Contact me at my e-mail address if you need more info, we'll set up a chat on AIM/IRC.