Gardner v. Michigan

Background

The city of Detroit adopted an ordinance requiring occupants to provide watertight boxes for kitchen and table refuse, and it gave a private company a ten-year contract to collect and dispose of all garbage outside the city. An agent of that company charged Gardner with unlawfully carrying and transporting hotel table refuse through city streets when he was not the city contractor’s agent. Gardner was tried, convicted, and fined under the ordinance; Michigan courts affirmed the conviction.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the ordinance and the exclusive city contract unlawfully took private property or denied equal protection. The Court explained that local governments may regulate and require removal or disposition of noxious refuse to protect public health. Even if some refuse had value for uses like feeding hogs, the city could reasonably subordinate such property interests to measures protecting health. The Court also rejected the claim that Wayne County’s jury law denied equal protection.

Real world impact

The ruling means a city may impose rules about how residents store and present garbage, enforce exclusive collection contracts, and prohibit private hauling of refuse when those rules reasonably protect public health. Individuals who carry garbage contrary to such ordinances can be fined. The decision affirms the conviction in this specific case and rests on the municipal police power to guard public health.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices (Brewer and Peckham) dissented as to the ordinances, indicating disagreement with the majority’s view on those municipal regulations.