California v. Greenwood
California v. Greenwood | |
---|---|
Case history | |
Prior | Drug charges against defendants dismissed by California Superior Court (unpublished). Affirmed, California Court of Appeal, 182 Cal.App.3d 729 (1986). Cert. granted, 483 U.S. 1019 (1987). |
Holding | |
The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of waste left for collection outside the curtilage of a home. California Court of Appeal reversed. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | White, joined by Rehnquist, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia |
Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall |
Kennedy took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amends. IV, XIV; Cal. Const., Art. I, § 28(d) |
California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home.[1]
This case has been widely cited as "trashing"[2][3] the Fourth Amendment with critics stating "the decision fails to recognize any reasonable expectation of privacy in the telling items Americans throw away" and that those who wish to preserve the privacy of their trash must now "resort to other, more expensive, self-help measures such as an investment in a trash compactor or a paper shredder."
Background
In early 1984, Investigator Jenny Stracner of the
In May, another investigator again had the garbage collectors pick up the garbage bag left on the curb. The garbage again contained evidence of drugs, the police obtained another search warrant, and they found more drugs and evidence of
The California Superior Court dismissed the charges against Greenwood and Van Houten on the ground that unwarranted trash searches violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, as well as the
Opinion of the Court
By a 6–2 vote (
Greenwood argued that the evidence should be excluded under the
Dissent
Justice Brennan reasoned that the possibility the police or other “unwelcome meddlers” might rummage through the trash bags “does not negate the
See also
- California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986)
- Curtilage
- Dow Chemical Co. v. United States, 476 U.S. 227 (1986)
- Expectation of privacy
- Florida v. Riley, 488 U.S. 445 (1989): No warrant needed for observations from public airspace.
- Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
- Open-fields doctrine
- Surreptitious DNA collecting
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court
- Garbage theft
References
- ^ "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "California v. (Verus) Greenwood: Did the United States Supreme Court Trash the Fourth Amendment? | Office of Justice Programs". www.ojp.gov. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ "California v. Greenwood: A Trashing of the Fourth Amendment".
External links
- Works related to California v. Greenwood at Wikisource
- Text of California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988) is available from: Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
- ThinkQuest - California v. Greenwood