Privacy advocates say Seattle is violating residents’ privacy “on a massive scale” by having garbage haulers look through people’s trash to make sure food scraps are going into the yard waste. We learn from the Seattle Times that some residents aren’t as fond of having their garbage men deputized to fine them as others.
“The 15-page legal complaint said the ordinance and the enforcement policies provide no clear way for a garbage collector to determine what 10 percent of a trash container is, and that different collectors have different methods of carrying out the requirements.
Plaintiffs say that in addition to the violation of privacy, the ordinance is a violation of resident’s rights to due process because it does not provide a clear way for a resident to appeal an alleged violation.
“The law makes garbage collectors the judges and the juries,” said Brian Hodges, Pacific Legal Foundation’s principal attorney.
