Trash is Private Property in New Hampshire

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."

Comments

Oregon weekly sticks it to the cops

[dietz]

In Oregon, after a case where the cops went through a person's trash to get evidence (against one of their own officers, in fact), one of the local weeklies decided to do a little protest.

They went through the trash of the police chief, they mayor (who supported the right for cops to go through trash), and the district attorney. They then held meetings with each of these people, asking how they felt about this privacy violation. The police chief actually threw them out of his office. Then they reported on these meetings and printed a list of every item they found in the trash bins.

Needless to say, the "victims" were pissed. The mayor held a press conference, claiming she was going to sue Wilamette Week for, uhhm, well, she never said what exactly. She never did sue.

It was pretty hilarious.

actually, what I'm saying

[dh003i]

is that there is no such thing as "public property"; it is an oxymoron. To speak of someone's property implies they own it, have rights over it, can do with it as they please (so long as they don't use it to initiate violence against someone), can exchange it, and acquired it rightfully.

Since the public (all tax-paying individuals) has no control over public property, and very limited use thereof, the property cannot be said to be owned by tax-paying individuals, as a corporation is owned by its shareholders. If anything, public property is a burden on us, adding to our enslavement, because we are forced to pay taxes on it, pay taxes to support it, and take care of it, despite the fact that we have no control over it.

In reality, what we improperly call "public property" is really the property of the politicians and beurocrats who decide how it can be used, property which they stole from the taxpayers they have systematically enslaved. Yes, taxes are slavery (forcing individuals to work 10-37.5% of the year without compensation is slavery, as is forcing them to work for 10-37.5% less than what they would otherwise work for).

Hence, all questions of what is proper on public property are meaningless, for it is asking the question "what is the right thing to do with stolen property". The only answer can be to return it to it's owners (if you know who they are), or allow it to be homesteaded by claimees. Talk of whether or not it is ok for police to search public property pre-supposes that the theft of the property which we call "public" is justified, when in fact it is not.