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| -Land of the Free |
| Judge tosses Seattle ordinance requiring garbage-can searches for food waste |
| 2016-04-29 |
| [WASHINGTONTIMES] A state judge threw out a portion of a Seattle ordinance requiring garbage collectors to snoop through residents’ trash in search of food waste, calling the provision unconstitutional. King County Superior Court Judge Beth M. Andrus issued an injunction against the garbage inspections but not Seattle’s residential food-waste ban, which forbids throwing away food scraps and compostable paper. "This ruling does not prohibit the city from banning food waste and compostable paper in SPU-provided garbage cans," the 14-page decision said, referring to the Seattle Public Utilities. "It merely renders invalid the provisions of the ordinance and rule that authorize a warrantless search of residents’ garbage cans when there is no applicable exception to the warrant requirement, such as the existence of prohibited items in plain view." Under the 2015 ordinance, garbage collectors were required to determine by "visual inspection" whether more than 10 percent of a trash can’s contents were made up of recyclable items or food waste. Violators are subject to having their garbage cans tagged and fines of $1 per can for curbside collections or $50 per collection for multi-family units. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Litter.jpg |
| Posted by: Pholutch Glinert1074 2016-04-29 20:06 |
| #5 That law is right along the lines of the signs posted on the I-5 in Washington state. "Litter and it'll hurt." So totalitarian. I cringe whenever I drive by one when I'm visiting the state. |
| Posted by: Pholutch Glinert1074 2016-04-29 20:03 |
| #4 Hmmmm. I see a dense forest of legal challenges to the expertise of garbage collectors to determine the 10% figure. Can one imagine the thought processes of that moroon who WROTE that law????? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2016-04-29 18:42 |
| #3 With minimum wage at $15/Hour I think the unemployed workers will more than take care of the 'leftover food in the trash' problem. Has anybody seen the King County building or 'Muscatel Meadows' (park outside Country Courthouse) lately. Its like a tent city! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2016-04-29 18:28 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-04-29 14:30 |
| #1 A few more years of socialist governance and no bin sorting ordinance will be necessary. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-04-29 02:51 |