Do You Have To Show Your Receipt?

welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions today's video will be somewhat different from our regular content and covers a growing trend amongst the constitutionally aware internet community of refusing to show purchase receipts upon exiting large chain stores such as Walmart and Costco is it legal for them to search you do you have the right to refuse their request let's dive right in and explore the laws there are countless videos on YouTube featuring citizens who have refused to show their receipt to employees of various grocery stores and supermarkets get off me I don't have to show you you accusing me of stealing and each refusal provokes a vastly different interaction I like to dis return this in order to understand the legal complexities surrounding receipt refusals it is important to understand that laws and their individual interpretations vary according to who is interpreting them laws are designed to be specific and law makers make strong efforts to create laws that address the full spectrum of circumstances which may blatantly violate or circumvent the authority of their legislation however laws often contradict one another or do not fully address the intricacies surrounding certain circumstances and sometimes create legal gray areas which heavily depend on highly specific contextual information in the case of receipt refusals there are several legal factors at play [Music] it's already been sold it is mine it is my property I paid for it is the reason why you have to sell has ever seen it's because of the high-dollar items that you have are you serious I am say are you serious well I'm for one is not illegally ticket receipts it's not state law it's not city ordinance a company policy that we have to follow the first principle argument often cited in the case of receipt refusals are the protections granted to citizens by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States the 4th amendment guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons houses papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures and established the doctrine of probable cause illegal search and seizure according to the Fourth Amendment in order to be detained searched or any of your property to be seized probable cause must first be established for probable cause to exist an individual must have sufficient knowledge of facts to warrant a belief that a suspect is committing a crime the belief must be based on factual evidence not on speculation alone the test which the court employees to determine probable cause is whether an objective person of reasonable intelligence would believe that certain circumstances indicate that a person arrested or detained has committed a crime okay but what probable cause of you have to set my receipts probable cause is often highly subjective but nonetheless required in order to detain anyone for any reason with or without the proper authority to do so which leads us to the next question do employees of department stores have the authority to detain you the answer is yes for two reasons the protections guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment only apply to representatives of the local state and federal government although department stores are considered public they are privately owned in constitutional protections are only guaranteed against the actions of public servants and do not protect individuals against the actions and authority enforced on private property while individuals retain their Fourth Amendment rights anywhere in public those rights may not dissolve the rights granted to private property owners it's no reason why you should receive for any reason is there a policy that's careered that we have to show you we're not gonna stop here ever again a red shell will be purchasing among the rights granted to private property owners and businesses as a whole are what's known as shopkeepers privilege shopkeepers privilege is a common law which varies in its scope and intensity from state to state but essentially grants shopkeepers the right to detain a suspected shoplifter on store property for a reasonable amount of time the shopkeepers privilege is for the purpose of investigation only if after a reasonable detention and investigation the shopkeeper mistakenly concludes that the suspect is guilty and has them arrested the shopkeeper becomes liable for the damages caused as a result of their actions just like any form of detainment in order to invoke shopkeepers privilege and detain an individual probable cause must be established a department store employee must have probable cause to suspect an individual has stolen something in order to demand proof of payment if the employee detains an individual without establishing probable cause the detainment evolves into an illegal false imprisonment the circumstances surrounding most receipt refusals create a cloud of legal fog which can be quite undefined and often results in an accusation or paradox the first time an employee asks a shopper to produce their purchase receipt it is considered an informal request not an accusation or speculation an argument could be made that the very act of refusing to produce a receipt when asked provides the necessary probable cause required for detainment therefore the accusation apero docks arises of a shopper creating the very probable cause which they feel is an invasion into their privacy although there is no legal doctrine which defines the limitations or parameters of this paradox some courts have ruled on similar instances in the past in the case of ball V Walmart incorporated on June 23rd 2000 the US district court of the District of Massachusetts ruled that an inspection of items in a shopping cart which were purchased moments before do not constitute an invasion of privacy because a person relinquishes their privacy right by placing themselves in a context where their legitimate expectation of privacy is reduced and common sense dictates that the act of shopping in a store involves exposure of the person and the items they purchase the right of privacy is founded on the idea that individuals may hold close certain items or private conduct which is no business of the public and the publicizing of which is therefore offensive the appearance of a person in a public space essentially dissolves the cloak of privacy which the law protects the court went on to quote the 1951 case of Kelly V post Publishing Co stating the law does not provide a remedy for every annoyance that occurs in daily life many things which are distressing or maybe lacking in proprietary or good taste are not actionable there are some exceptions to the questionable nature of requesting to see proof of purchase as stated earlier in the video if an employee has witnessed some suspicious behavior which leads them to believe an individual is stealing an employee may detain the individual and conduct an investigation membership-based department stores such as Sam's Club or Costco also create exceptions by requiring consent to receipt checks as a condition of their membership overall the refusal to show a purchase receipt upon request exists in a legal haze where policy rights and law are in an unceasing whirlwind of interpretation and inconsistency the case could be made that the request to show a receipt is a violation of rights or equally a simple inconvenience which is not actionable by higher courts either interpretation is enshrined in some measure of fault and some measure of validity and no great legal revelation rests on the shoulders of the refusal to show a receipt at Walmart no Wars will be fought in the name of receipt rights and no agenda will be progressed through the refusal to produce a receipt or the demand to see one to quote the modern renaissance' see joy Bell C choose your battles wisely after all life isn't measured by how many times you stood up to fight it's not winning battles that makes you happy but it's how many times you turned away and chose to look in a better direction thank you for watching and let us know what you think of this type of content in the comments below let us know if there's a legal topic or police interaction you would like us to cover and don't forget to Like and subscribe for more police interaction content [Music]

Channel: Audit the Audit

Views: 2,923,701

Rating: 4.7081409 out of 5

Keywords: amagansett press, first amendment audit, 1st amendment audit, auditing america, news now california, sgv news first, high desert community watch, anselmo morales, san joaquin valley transparency, first amendment audit fail, walk of shame, news now houston, 1st amendment audit fail, public photography, police brutality, highdesert community watch, pinac news, news now patrick, receipt, walmart stop, show your receipt, do i have to show my receipt at walmart, police fail

Id: Q1Z6SCamuPQ

Length: 11min 32sec (692 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 21 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/SampleLegend]

Saw a comment “it’s not about stopping theft. It’s about power and control.” 🙄🙄

[u/DokiStabbyWaifu]

Ah. It’s Walmart’s property until you leave the store. So the APCH’s are at right to check everyone. (We aren’t accusing anyone of stealing unless you’re guilty of it!)

[u/telephun]

Ew customer comments

[u/Firm-Marketing-4398]

Meh. Working in Walmart for years, there’s so much the company can do to protect its assets instead of asking to see receipts.

[u/Ty-rann-o-saurus]

It’s funny when people say “There are laws say I don’t have to”…. Except no there are not! You are in a private business even AFTER checking out, you are still standing in their business and they have every right to protect their assets.

There are actually a lot of misconceptions about retail! They CAN deny you entry for any reason except specifically saying one of the “protected status”! They also CAN deny someone with a service animal, ADA regulations only apply IF the business allows said person in.

Retail business are NOT required to be in business, so no Karen, I DO NOT have to let you in or give you what ever you want NOW NOW NOW

That’s exactly why most or all stores are getting the AP gates, the problem is being the stores to use them

[u/NOTHARDERBUTSMARTER]

Customer Hosts are Nothing but a VISUAL DETERRENT,, Nothing more! It is literally worded as such every company job description, training video, hiring guide and roles and regulations OBW breakdown. This is why the yellow vests, not the standard blue-grey ones !