Warhawks on the Attack
March 5th, 2003 11:22 am

Imagine this scenario: You’re walking through the mall spending your hard earned jack on things you probably don’t need. You’re trying to help America’s economy get stronger by spending the money you expect from the Bush tax cuts that really don’t apply to your tax bracket.

Then, you get arrested because you’re wearing a t-shirt that says, “Give Peace a Chance”?

The warhawks are attacking… middle-America. In Albany, NY, Stephen Downs and his son were doing just that - shopping at Crossgates Mall. Their t-shirts said, “Peace on Earth,” and “Give Peace a Chance.” Good tidings to fellow man, or an anti-war slogan?

Mall security didn’t care. They approached Mr. Downs, 61, and his son Roger, 31, asked them to remove the shirts made at a store there, or leave the mall.

Both men, understanding the very first admendment to the Constitution is a citizens right to free speech, refused. So the rent-a-cops left, then came back a few minutes later with a police officer, who asked them to remove the shirts.

Roger capitulated but Stephen didn’t. Stephen was placed in cuffs and taken away like a drug dealer. The New York Civil Liberties Union said it would help with his case if asked.

Police Chief James Murley said his officers were just responding to a complaint by mall security.

Now before everyone gets up-in-arms about this, let’s look at the flip side of the issue.

What most people do not realize about the 100 billion malls spread across every acre of America is that nearly all of them are private property. That gives security guards more leeway in how they handle certain situations.

If someone is in my house or in my yard, I have the right to ask them to leave. Nearly every mall in America has the same regulation.

“We don’t care what they have on their shirts, but they were asked to leave the property, and it’s private property,” Police Chief Murley said.

About 3 months ago, the same mall kicked out 20 peace activists wearing similar T-shirts.

What are we seeing, an attack on the 1st Admendment or a mall proactively stopping protests from forming?

Posted in National Events by Mark
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Cosbysweater
March 5th, 2003 5:03 pm

This is ludicrous. While the inside of the mall is probably not public property or a public forum because it hasn’t taken on those attributes, the mall has clearly invited the public inside to conduct business with its stores.

According to your post, the two men were performing activities related to their reason for being in the mall: shopping. And while their tee-shirts might be a form of expression, the men were not in the mall solely to express themselves, but to do what the mall invited them to do: shop. This is evident by the fact that they purchased their shirts from a store within the mall.

So, IMHO, it’s a quasi-public place, which should not be able to remove people based on the speech contained on their clothes when the people wearing said clothing are performing the normal activities for which that place is intended.

But I’m just pulling this out of thin air, so who knows?