# Cops digging used tampons out of the trash to test for drugs? WTF?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705 "2002-12-10T04:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/21 "2002-12-10T08:18:18Z")
I wonder how long it’ll be before “Law & Order” includes a tampon-as-evidence in one of its “ripped from the headlines” stories. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/22 "2002-12-10T08:19:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I wouldn’t want to swim anywhere the council pumped raw sewage out to sea. And Sydney’s “ocean outfalls” are almost as famous as it’s beaches. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/23 "2002-12-10T08:25:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*In this case, digging used tampons out of the trash, without a warrant no less. > > Have they no sense of decency? What the fuck are we coming to, where cops are snooping in the trash of OTHER cops, digging for used tampons to test for drugs and semen? Does any sense of privacy exist, or must even such a basic thing as this be forfeited in order to punish people for ingesting non government approved substances? > > If justice prevails, this had better get excluded from evidence, and the case dismissed. Outrages like this should not be tolerated in a free society. \*\* Well, I decide to take a break from writing up my Criminal Procedure outline, and browse the SDMB, and what do I get? A criminal procedure question!! In this case, there is neither a warrant nor probable cause. However, that’s OK since it _isn’t a search at all_. Since the SCOTUS ruling in _Katz_, 4th amendment rights have been tied into “reasonable expectation of privacy.” There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash, that issue is firmly settled. Therefore, the police’s rummaging through the trash can and taking the tampon is neither a search nor a seizure of objects governed by the 4th amendment. As such, it requires neither probable case, reasonable suspicion, or a warrant. This one should be a slam dunk…_except_ that states are allowed to go further in protecting individual’s rights that the federal constitution requires, if the state court feels that it’s own constitution extends further protection. It can do this even if the state’s equivalent to the US 4th Amendment is absolutely identitcal in language to the language of the US constitution. So perhaps Oregon will take the lead and distinguish this case somehow. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/24 "2002-12-10T08:35:24Z")
If I’m reading what you just posted **Rex** , that means the police could randomly go through any person’s garbage without any reason whatsoever, just hoping to find some evidence which might possibly link someone to a crime - even though they had no reason to believe that particular garbage can might contain evidence of a crime and might not have even known whose garbage they were searching. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/25 "2002-12-10T08:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by reprise \* > \*\*If I’m reading what you just posted **Rex** , that means the police could randomly go through any person’s garbage without any reason whatsoever, just hoping to find some evidence which might possibly link someone to a crime - even though they had no reason to believe that particular garbage can might contain evidence of a crime and might not have even known whose garbage they were searching. \*\* Exactly. It’s not a “search” under the 4th Amendment, so they don’t need any reason at all. Now, keep in mind, that a state _might_ have a statute regarding this (I’m not aware of any, though), or the police department _might_ have regulations of their own about this (to prevent rummaging through garbage by officers on private vendettas against citizens, for instance.) But there’s no constitutional issue, since it’s not considered a “search”, so yes indeed they can do so even without any reason at all beyond personal whimsy. It’s treated no differently than simply standing at a street corner all night looking around, which isn’t considered a “search” either. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/26 "2002-12-10T08:44:18Z")
Oh, I forgot to note one thing. If your garbage can is inside some sort of fenced-in enclosure, near your house, there’s a _chance_ the court wouldn’t allow the warrantless, causeless search. Homes are the only thing in which 4th amendment rights are still contingent on property interests, and there’s some stupid rule about the “curtilage” around your home (whatever the heck that is), the area near your home that is enclosed, or otherwise should be considered part of your home (fenced-in gardens adjacent to the house, perhaps.) Garbage at the curb gets none of those protections though. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/27 "2002-12-10T08:49:17Z")
Just out of interest **Rex** , presumably your car parked on the street could be subjected to a similar kind of “search” - even though it’s your property, it isn’t your home. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/28 "2002-12-10T08:55:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by reprise \* > \*\*Just out of interest **Rex** , presumably your car parked on the street could be subjected to a similar kind of “search” - even though it’s your property, it isn’t your home. \*\* No, you have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in your car, even parked on the street, even if unlocked. In part, the reason you don’t have one in your trash is that you are putting out fully expecting (in fact hoping) that people will be along to take it from you. 4th Amendment rights aren’t tied to property, excepting the home, but very often one’s “reasonable expectation of privacy” and one’s property interests coincide. The car is an example of where they do coincide, the trashcan an example of where they do not. The only situation in which a cop can search your vehicle without even a reasonable suspicion of finding contraband or evidence of a crime is the “inventory search” they are allowed to make of a car’s contents when it’s impounded. (They can also search the passenger compartment, but not the trunk, if you are pulled over on the roadway _and arrested_, citations don’t count – it’s a search incident to arrest, no independant probable cause or reasonable suspicion needed.) If it’s just sitting there, so as long as you don’t park it in front of a fire hydrant, you should be ok. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/29 "2002-12-10T08:58:36Z")
Oh, but anything the cop sees through your car’s window, in plain view, that’s fair game. He is entitled to any such observations, and may use them to form probable cause to justify a full search of the car and seizure of the objects he sees in the car, but he’d probably have to get a warrant at that point unless one of the specific exceptions to the warrant requirement applies. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/30 "2002-12-10T08:59:06Z")
OK - why can’t they search the trunk if you’re arrested? ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/31 "2002-12-10T09:24:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by reprise \* > \*\*OK - why can’t they search the trunk if you’re arrested? \*\* Short answer: the search incident to arrest is theoretically allowed to make sure that you have no weapons, and it’s scope is limited by what is in the arrestee’s “immediate control.” The trunk is out of the person’s immediate control, there’s little chance he could get to the trunk from the passenger department before the officer could stop him, so it’s not searchable in that context. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/32 "2002-12-10T09:27:46Z")
I’m just amazed that they did a DNA test on a tampon just to get a warrant hoping for a drug conviction. ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/33 "2002-12-10T12:30:37Z")
Forensic Tampologists? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/34 "2002-12-10T15:43:13Z")
Would it make any difference if you made it clear that you didn’t want people to trawl through your garbage? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/35 "2002-12-10T16:21:14Z")
Let’s hope the police haven’t messed with the evidence, or the press gets a field day with “tampered tampon” comments. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/36 "2002-12-10T17:12:32Z")
**RexDart** - good summary on search and seizure law. **Blalron** - you are, of course, absolutely entitled to your opinion of what the law should be, but until you’re appointed to the federal bench, it might be prudent to preface your commentary with the disclaimer that you’re opining, not describing the actual, real law of the land as it exists today. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/37 "2002-12-10T18:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zigaretten \* > \*\*. . . . .if they hadn’t tested for the presence of semen the whole operation would have been a waste. \*\* Ha Ha ha! I get it! “Waste”! Ha Ha Ha! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/38 "2002-12-10T20:05:59Z")
_The toilet blew up yesterday afteroon The plumber, he said, never flush a tampoon This great information cost me half a week’s pay And the toilet blew up later on the next day…_ – Frank Zappa ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/39 "2002-12-10T23:11:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\ ***RexDart** - good summary on search and seizure law. > > \*\* Thanks **Bricker** …I wish I could have forwarded this thread to my Crim Pro professor! I just got out of the final exam, and somehow things seemed much clearer on this board then they did in the exam room today ☹ Oh well, I’ve got four more finals in the next two weeks, can’t dwell on one too long 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705/40 "2002-12-10T23:11:31Z")
forget the issue of lack of a warrent, they didn’t need one. what may work, however, is that if the trash container is open to the public (ie not in a locked back yard), even w/a DNA match to the individual, you’ll have (IMHO) a devil of a time proving that there was no potential for tampering or contamination of the item. If, for example, the woman involved had sealed her tampon in a plastic bag, with a tamper proof seal across, we can assert that the cocaine or what have you, had to have come from her, and not, say, the used napkin next to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-digging-used-tampons-out-of-the-trash-to-test-for-drugs-wtf/141705.md?page=3)