Opinion ID: 2612515
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: private affairs vs. garbage

Text: The majority fails to provide what the contemplated meaning of private affairs is and why it necessarily encompasses garbage. Yet it concludes that trash falls squarely within the contemplated meaning of a `private affair' and finds a privacy interest to exist in garbage. Majority opinion, at 578. It bases this decision upon several cases establishing privacy interests in the area of search and seizure, none of which deals with garbage. It reasons that unlike the Fourth Amendment, which centers upon the subjective privacy expectations of citizens, article 1, section 7 focuses on those privacy interests which citizens of this state have held, and should be entitled to hold, safe from governmental trespass absent a warrant. Majority opinion, at 577 (citing State v. Myrick, 102 Wn.2d 506, 510-11, 688 P.2d 151 (1984)). Notably, the majority provides no basis for concluding that there is a historical privacy interest in garbage that has been held by the citizens of our state. Nor is it abundantly clear that this court's recognition of privacy interests in other areas of search and seizure provide a sufficient basis for extending such an interest to garbage. The relevant inquiry for determining when a search has occurred under article 1, section 7 is whether the State unreasonably intruded into the defendant's private affairs. Myrick, at 510 (citing State v. Simpson, 95 Wn.2d 170, 178, 622 P.2d 1199 (1980)). By contrast, the pertinent inquiry under the Fourth Amendment is whether there has been governmental intrusion into an individual's `reasonable expectation of privacy.' Myrick, at 510 (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 19 L.Ed.2d 576, 88 S.Ct. 507 (1967)). We have held this difference significant in determining whether an individual's privacy interests have been unconstitutionally violated. See, e.g., Myrick, at 510. However, this difference in analyzing whether a violation has occurred does not determine that an alleged privacy interest would necessarily fall within the meaning of private affairs and thereby be constitutionally protected. To date, it appears we have not yet clarified what private affairs would entail. See, e.g., Myrick, at 510-11 (citing State v. Simpson, supra ). One cannot legitimately conclude that an individual's private affairs have been unconstitutionally violated under article 1, section 7 until it has been determined that the privacy interest allegedly violated falls within the contemplated meaning of private affairs. In this regard, I believe the relevant inquiry would be the same as that of the Fourth Amendment. That is, whether the defendant possessed, from a societal perspective, an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in that matter allegedly violated. California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35, 39, 100 L.Ed.2d 30, 108 S.Ct. 1625 (1988); see also Myrick, at 510 (citing Katz, at 357). To hold otherwise would permit individuals to assert as private any matter subjectively held to be so. It could hardly be seriously contended that our constitution allows for such a result. When applied to Boland's case, the relevant inquiry would be whether his asserted expectation of privacy in his garbage is objectively reasonable from a societal perspective and, if so, whether the warrantless search was a violation of that interest. In that regard, the Supreme Court has already answered these questions. See California v. Greenwood, supra . First, garbage left on or at the side of a public street is readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public. Greenwood, at 40 (citing People v. Krivda, 5 Cal.3d at 367). Moreover, garbage is placed at the curb for the express purpose of conveying it to a third party, the trash collector, who might himself have sorted through the trash or permitted others, such as the police, to do so. Greenwood, at 40. Accordingly, having deposited garbage in an area particularly suited for public inspection, there could be no reasonable expectation of privacy in the inculpatory items discarded. Greenwood, at 40-41. The majority dismisses this reasoning by arguing that the fundamental purpose of the constitution is to govern the relationship between the people and the government rather than the relationship between private parties. Majority opinion, at 575 (citing Southcenter Joint Venture v. National Democratic Policy Comm., 113 Wn.2d 413, 780 P.2d 1282 (1989)). Thus, it concludes that the focus of inquiry should be the reasonableness of governmental intrusion into a private individual's garbage and not the reasonableness of such intrusions by private individuals. Majority opinion, at 575. While this is undoubtedly true, the majority's focus is misplaced. The Court in Greenwood does not maintain that the constitution governs the rights of people vis-a-vis one another. Rather, the point made is one of logic and a fundamental precept of constitutional analysis. That is, there can be no legitimate expectation of privacy in a matter held out to the public. Cf. Bedford v. Sugarman, 112 Wn.2d 500, 512, 772 P.2d 486 (1989). Thus, it is difficult to understand how the majority can acknowledge there is no reasonable expectation that children, scavengers, or snoops will not sift through one's garbage, yet find it reasonable to expect that the government will not absent a warrant. Majority opinion, at 578. The majority offers no explanation to reconcile how this court legitimately can engage in this type of selective enforcement of constitutional principles. The majority relies upon the holding of the Hawaii Supreme Court in State v. Tanaka, 67 Hawaii 658, 662, 701 P.2d 1274 (1985) as standing for the proposition that average persons would find a constitutionally protected privacy interest in garbage objectively reasonable. Majority opinion, at 578. To the contrary, an overwhelming majority of federal and state courts have held that society is not willing to accept as objectively reasonable an expectation of privacy in garbage left in an area accessible to the public. Greenwood, at 41 (citing, e.g., United States v. Espriella, 781 F.2d 1432, 1437 (9th Cir.1986); United States v. O'Bryant, 775 F.2d 1528, 1533-34 (11th Cir.1985); United States v. Michaels, 726 F.2d 1307, 1312-13 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 820 (1984); United States v. Kramer, 711 F.2d 789, 791-94 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 962 (1983); United States v. Terry, 702 F.2d 299, 308-09 (2d Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Williams v. United States, 461 U.S. 931 (1983); Commonwealth v. Chappee, 397 Mass. 508, 512-13, 492 N.E.2d 719 (1986); Cooks v. State, 699 P.2d 653, 656 (Okla. Crim. App.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 935 (1985); State v. Stevens, 123 Wis.2d 303, 314-17, 367 N.W.2d 788, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 852 (1985); State v. Ronngren, 361 N.W.2d 224, 228-30 (N.D. 1985); State v. Brown, 20 Ohio App.3d 36, 37-38, 484 N.E.2d 215 (1984); State v. Oquist, 327 N.W.2d 587 (Minn. 1982); People v. Whotte, 113 Mich. App. 12, 317 N.W.2d 266 (1982). If we are to resort to other jurisdictions to conclude what the citizens of Washington would find objectively reasonable, then the overwhelming majority of state and federal courts dictate a result contrary to the majority's. The majority, however, declines to follow federal precedent and distinguishes Greenwood and other similar cases for two reasons. First, Greenwood is based in part on the fact that the garbage was left outside the curtilage of the home. Majority opinion, at 580. The majority argues that this court has previously held the location of a search is indeterminative. Majority opinion, at 580 (citing State v. Boland, 55 Wn. App. 657, 664-65, 781 P.2d 490 (1989) (Alexander, C.J., dissenting)). Contrary to the majority's position, while stating that location was not dispositive, this court held it was a factor to be considered in determining the validity of the intrusion. See State v. Myrick, supra . Thus, it has direct bearing on whether an unreasonable intrusion into Boland's private affairs has occurred. See majority opinion, at 580. In this regard, Greenwood's conclusion that the trash was placed in an area accessible to the general public is of major relevance. Greenwood, at 40-41. Trash cans placed immediately adjacent to a home, in a place to which the general public is not invited, are within a constitutionally protected area as to which the homeowner may reasonably expect privacy from governmental intrusion. See People v. Krivda , at 368 (Wright, C.J., concurring and dissenting) (citing Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 301, 17 L.Ed.2d 374, 87 S.Ct. 408 (1966)). That privacy, however, is inextricably bound up in the physical location of the trash cans. Krivda, at 368. It is inconceivable that article 1, section 7 of our constitution compels extending protection to garbage where it is placed adjacent to or on a public thoroughfare. See Krivda, at 368-69. The majority also declines to apply Greenwood because it allegedly conflicts with this court's interpretations of Const. art. 1, § 7. Majority opinion, at 580. Specifically, the majority points to the fact that unlike our holding in State v. Gunwall, 106 Wn.2d 54, 720 P.2d 808, 76 A.L.R.4th 517 (1986), the Supreme Court has allowed the warrantless use of pen registers. Majority opinion, at 580 (citing Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 61 L.Ed.2d 220, 99 S.Ct. 2577 (1979)). In Gunwall, we stated that a telephone was a necessary component of modern life, indispensable to effective communication in today's complex society. Gunwall, at 67 (quoting People v. Sporleder, 666 P.2d 135, 141 (Colo. 1983)); majority opinion, at 581. Thus, we held that the concomitant disclosure to the telephone company for internal business purposes does not alter a caller's expectation of privacy and transpose it into an assumed risk of disclosure to the government. Gunwall, at 67; majority opinion, at 581. The majority analogizes this rationale to garbage collection. Majority opinion, at 581. While garbage collection may be considered necessary to the proper functioning of society, unlike Gunwall, the placement of trash in a publicly accessible area cannot legitimately be characterized as placement for an internal business or personal purpose. Moreover, one who discards his trash and places it at curbside to be picked up assumes the risk that the garbage collector may be an agent of the police or may permit the police to examine the unconglomerated trash once it is picked up. Krivda, at 369. I find the rationale in Greenwood a logical application of constitutional principles to garbage placed in a public area and would apply it to Boland's case.