Walmart shoppers trained employees on the Constitution after being asked to verify receipts.
To prevent theft, more retailers are checking customers’ receipts when they leave the store.
But shoppers don’t feel the need to present their receipts after scanning their items at self-checkout.
One shopper educated a worker who asked for a receipt about the U.S. Constitution.
Stu Skinner shared his encounter with a Walmart employee on YouTube in 2021.
“Can I see the receipt?” the worker asked.
“No, you can’t do that,” he said.
“Have a nice day,” the worker said, shooing Skinner away as he passed.
Skinner then pointed the camera at him as he left the store.
“This is another victory for the United States Constitution,” he said. “Fourth Amendment, baby!”
The Fourth Amendment protects the public from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
But, according to the U.S. court, the Fourth Amendment “does not guarantee all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law.”
Skinner’s video drew several comments from people praising him, who refused to show his receipts.
“Well done,” one person wrote.
“Lol, God, I love this!” another person wrote.
“Give her a receipt from another store and tell her she can keep it,” a third person wrote.
find out for yourself
Several lawyers have expressed their opinions on the trend of receipt checking.
A Texas lawyer explained the law allows stores to check receipts, but stores in other states may not have the same rights.
According to attorney Clay Payne (@thepaynelawyer), the argument comes down to a law known as “storeowner’s privilege.”
“There is no Texas law that allows stores to ask for a receipt,” Payne said in a popular TikTok post.
“However, a law called shopkeeper’s privilege allows stores to detain shoplifting suspects for a certain period of time if they have probable cause,” he said.
The rule allows business owners who can prove they have a reasonable suspicion of shoplifting to conduct due diligence and try to deter potential theft.
“Failure to produce a receipt is not sufficient for detention, but it may be linked to other charges,” he wrote.
US Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment.