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Trash is Private Property in New Hampshire

Posted by michael on from the take-out-the-papers-and-the-trash dept.

suwain_2 writes "As this article in the Nashua (New Hampshire) Telegraph discusses, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled that trash set out on the sidewalk for collection is private property. In the case that led to this landmark decision, police searched through an area man's trash, finding traces of marijuana in his garbage. The New Hampshire Supreme Court declared yesterday that the police didn't have the right to go through his trash without a warrant. This is the opposite of what most states, and the US Supreme Court, have previously ruled. Live free or die indeed."

2 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. correct decision by dh003i · · Score: 2, Informative

    Anything on property owned by you is private property; if it is concealed (that is, not visible by plain sight) the police should need a warrant to search it. The minute your trash leaves your yard, it is no longer your property, but rather the property of the trash-company (that is the agreement between you and your trash company). How it is treated then depends upon your contract with the trash company.

    --
    social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
    1. Re:correct decision by sweetooth · · Score: 3, Informative

      The curb isn't your private property. Hence police have been able to go through trash for ages.