To be strictly accurate, he wasn't arrested for wearing a peace Tshirt. He
was arrested for refusing to leave the mall ; the mall is not public
property and the mall owner or landlord has a right to kick anyone out for
any stupid reason (although i agree with Wachtler's opinion that sticking a
roof over a bunch of shops does not make the mall any less "public", but
that's the law right now). The mall owners' (more likely some petty mall
manager with delusions of power) reasons for kicking Downs out were
obviously biased and stupid - malls have gotten into trouble for doing the
same thing to young people wearing certain clothing that mall owners deemed
"offensive" or indicative of gang membership. The young people have
frequently gone on to win lawsuits and have charges dropped. The malls
always end up losing, both in court and in the court of public opinion.
Downs should slap the mall with a nice fat lawsuit. But don't blame the
cops - they did not take it upon themselves to arrest some poor old guy
wearing a peace Tshirt - they were responding to a complaint of trespassing.
Therefore this doesn't really represent the power of the state being used to
stifle dissent or serve as a harbinger of jackboots marching in the mall.
Last time I checked, you are still free to march in the streets with big
signs proclaiming the government to be facist - and if you can, then it
isn't.
For the record, I'm a libertarian and I too have problems with the Patriot
Act(s). But I'm also an optimist and I think that many of these laws will be
squished upon judicial review.
And on a different topic - why do so many writers and others misuse the term
"ironic?" Most of the time when they say "ironically" they really mean
"coincidentally." Not the same thing.
-----Original Message-----
From: mary.g.hune@verizon.com [mailto:mary.g.hune@verizon.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 10:14 AM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Atty arrested at Mall for T-shirt
This article appeared in the NY Law Journal today. The action taken
against this attorney for merely wearing a T-shirt advocating "Peace" at a
shopping mall, makes me very uncomfortable about my rights as a citizen.
Especially after reading the analysis of Patriot II posted here by Brian
Baker.
The text of the article can be retrieved from
http://tinyurl.com/6z5r
Mary Grace Hune
Law Librarian
Verizon Legal Department
1515 North Courthouse Road, Suite 500
Arlington, VA 22201-2909
Tel. 703-351-3173
Fax 703-351-3663
mary.g.hune@verizon.com
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