California v. Greenwood
6/2/202652 min
Raccoons are the police now.
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5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Alli Rodgers. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRhiannon Hamam· Host0:00
We'll hear argument next in number 86-684, California versus Billy Greenwood and Diane Van Houten.
Leon Neyfakh0:07
[upbeat music] Hey, everyone. This is Leon from Prologue Projects. On this week's episode of 5 to 4, Peter, Rhiannon, and Michael are talking about California v. Greenwood, a case from 1988 about the Fourth Amendment and trash. What was the last thing you threw away? Maybe it was just an innocent receipt, or maybe it was something more personal, like an empty medication bottle or a bank statement. In the case of Billy Greenwood, his trash contained evidence of illegal drug use. This came to the attention of police, who for weeks coordinated with Greenwood's local garbage men to have his trash separated and held for them to inspect. They did this without a warrant, but used the evidence they found from his garbage to later secure a warrant to search his house, where they eventually found illegal substances and arrested Greenwood on felony charges. Greenwood sued, arguing that the search of his garbage violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. In a six-two decision, the court held that curbside garbage is not protected by the Fourth Amendment. This is 5 to 4, a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks.
Peter Shamshiri· Host1:12
Welcome to 5 to 4, where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases that have debased our civil rights, like hosting a UFC fight [laughs] at the White House- Hmm ... is debasing our nation.