Is it illegal to go through peoples thrash when its on the road?

Question

Is it illegal to go through peoples thrash when its on the road?

Answer 1

most cities have ordinances against this.

Answer 2

No.

creepy and perhaps dangerous though

Answer 3

No. The Supreme court has had a number of rulings on this. Police frequently do " trash pulls". Done them myself. Once the trash hits the curb, it is abandoned property and open to the public.

Most criminal cases involved syndicate, gambling, drugs, but does not mean other offenses cant be charged.

Police may have to verbalize in a report what led them to the garbage, but it is not illegal.

Now, garbage picking, where a mess is left, might be a different story. Then it is the mess that becomes the problem and that someone will have to clean it up.

I have put out a number of nice articles no longer used with my trash and by twilight, someone will come along and take what they want. They are generally very nice about keeping it clean though. They're original re-cyclers and believe me, there is a lot of money/savings, in garbage.

Answer 4

Whaaat?  Get back in your van, sir, and go park it by your river.

Answer 5

I read an article on the L.A. Times a month back discussing that very issue. It was about a lady that would look for recycled cans and bottles to cash them in.

The article mentioned that the city were she was doing this in(Pasadena, CA) it was illegal, for the contents inside the trash can is city property since it's inside a city trash can.  I'm not sure if it varies by city, but that made sense to me although I had sympathy for the lady as well.

Answer 6

Yes, it is.

Answer 7

Yes.

Answer 8

yea and why are u going through other people trash anyways. thats gross

Answer 9

it depends on where you live. different comunities have different laws. check with your local municipality.

Answer 10

No, but its still creepy!!

Answer 11

They may thrash you for peeping in their thrash...