In the case of California v. Krivda et al., 1972, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that warrantless searches and seizures of garbage left outside a person's home for collection violated the Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. The defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Krivda, were suspected of stealing women’s clothing from local stores in Los Angeles County after police found stolen merchandise labels in their trash cans placed on public streets for collection by sanitation workers. Based on this evidence obtained without a search warrant, law enforcement officials searched their residence where they discovered more stolen items leading to charges being filed against them. However, the Supreme Court held that even though garbage is put out for disposal it does not lose its constitutional protection as private property until it reaches a point where access to it can no longer be controlled by its owner.

In the dissenting opinion for California v. Krivda, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the Fourth Amendment should protect citizens from warrantless searches of their trash left on public streets for collection. He contended that just because an individual leaves something in a place where it can be seen does not mean they forfeit their right to privacy or give consent for it to be searched without a warrant. The majority's view, according to him, would allow police officers to search through people’s garbage and seize anything they find suspicious without any legal restrictions or oversight - which he saw as a dangerous precedent undermining constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.