Monday, August 08, 2005

So Chief, What's in Your Trash?

Following last Friday's story about Trash Diving in Montana and the arrival of George Orwell's 1984, Declan was reminded of this story from 2002:

In Portland Oregon, some law enforcement and government officials think it's okay to dig through people's trash without a search warrant. So, the folks at Williamette Weekly ("Portland's News Weekly") decided to dig through the trash of the Police Chief, Mayor, and District Attorney, just to see what they would find.

The first two were less than pleased, with the Chief ending a subsequent interview early (when asked if his wife was a member of the religous extremist Focus on the Family organization), and the Mayor made a special fuss by issuing a summons, telling the reporters "She wants you to bring the trash--and bring the name of your attorney." To his credit, DA Mike Schrunk seemed to take it in stride, joking "Do I have to pay for this week's garbage collection?"

Actually, like the proposed seizing of Justice Souter's home by eminent domain, this may be a nifty way of demonstrating to government officials the effect their decisions have regarding the liberty of citizens.

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