Opinion ID: 1179423
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: state constitutional protection of free expression

Text: In Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center, 23 Cal.3d 899, 153 Cal. Rptr. 854, 592 P.2d 341 (1979), aff'd, 447 U.S. 74, 100 S.Ct. 2035, 64 L.Ed.2d 741 (1980), the California Supreme Court held that solicitation of signatures for a political petition on private property is activity protected by the California Constitution. [6] 592 P.2d at 347-48. The court stated that shopping centers have become the commercial hubs of modern suburbia and noted that the Pruneyard Shopping Center contained 5 acres for parking and 16 acres of walkways, plazas, and buildings containing 65 shops, 10 restaurants and a cinema. [7] Id. at 342, 344-45. However, the court clearly established that there are limits on the exercise of free expression: By no means do we imply that those who wish to disseminate ideas have free rein. We noted above Chief Justice Traynor's endorsement of time, place, and manner rules. Further, as Justice Mosk stated in Diamond II, It bears repeated emphasis that we do not have under consideration the property or privacy rights of an individual homeowner or the proprietor of a modest retail establishment. Id. at 347 (quoting Diamond v. Bland, 11 Cal.3d 331, 113 Cal. Rptr. 468, 521 P.2d 460 (1974) (Mosk, J., dissenting) (citation omitted)). The United States Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that a state is free to interpret its constitution to prohibit private infringements on constitutionally-protected expression, provided that it does not violate the fifth and fourteenth amendment rights of private property owners. 447 U.S. at 80-85, 100 S.Ct. at 2040-43. Many other courts have since addressed the question whether their state constitutional guarantees of free expression apply to purely private infringements, with mixed results. For example, in Alderwood Associates v. Washington Environmental Council, 96 Wash.2d 230, 635 P.2d 108, 110 (1981), the owner of Alderwood Mall sued to enjoin a group of citizens from soliciting signatures for an initiative concerning the storage and transportation of radioactive waste. Id. The court described the mall as a regional shopping center with more than one million square feet of store area on 110 acres of land. Id. It had 6,000 parking spaces and the projected 1985 daily automobile use was 39,600. Id. A plurality of the Washington Supreme Court held that article I, section 5 of the Washington Constitution [8] does not require state action. Id. at 115-16. The court adopted a case-by-case approach balancing the competing speech and property interests, and concluded that requiring Alderwood Mall to tolerate peaceful signature-gathering would not deprive it of property or due process. Id. at 115-17. The court emphasized that the shopping center performs the traditional public function of a town center or community business block. Id. at 117. Similarly, in State v. Schmid, 84 N.J. 535, 423 A.2d 615 (1980), appeal dismissed, 455 U.S. 100, 102 S.Ct. 867, 70 L.Ed.2d 855 (1982), the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a non-student has a constitutional right to distribute political literature on the campus of Princeton University, a private institution. In balancing the competing interests of the university and the speaker, the court noted that the university was devoted to educational purposes and ran an open campus with certain grounds and walkways completely open to the public. Id. at 630-31. Finally, in Shad Alliance v. Smith Haven Mall, 118 Misc.2d 841, 462 N.Y.S.2d 344 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1983), a New York trial court ruled that article I, sections 8, 9 and 11 of the state constitution [9] entitled a coalition of anti-nuclear power groups to distribute leaflets at the main entrance to the Smith Haven Mall. The mall contained a total of 97 acres with over 125 retail, entertainment, and service businesses and spaces to park 7,000 cars. Id. at 345. The central rotunda was one of the heaviest pedestrian traffic areas in the county. Id. at 345-46. Other courts have construed state guarantees of free speech more narrowly. For example, in Western Pennsylvania Socialist Workers 1982 Campaign v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., 512 Pa. 23, 515 A.2d 1331, 1335 (1986), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that the declaration of rights in the Pennsylvania Constitution [10] was intended to limit the power of the state rather than regulate private relationships. Thus, the court ruled that a shopping mall open to the public solely for commercial purposes is not a public forum. Id. at 1336. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that its constitutional guarantees apply only to action by the government and do not apply to purely private conduct. [11] Woodland v. Michigan Citizens Lobby, 423 Mich. 188, 378 N.W.2d 337, 344 (1985). Instead, the reasonable regulation of private property in the public interest is a matter for the legislature. Id. at 357. Accord Cologne v. Westfarms Associates, 192 Conn. 48, 469 A.2d 1201 (1984); see also State v. Felmet, 302 N.C. 173, 273 S.E.2d 708, 712 (1981) (reaching the same result without analysis). We are aware of no case requiring the individual proprietor of a small establishment to provide a forum for the expressive rights of her fellow citizens. To the contrary, several of the cases on which Tait relies emphasize that the property was not a modest retail establishment. We do not believe that the framers intended article I, section 5 to extend a doctrine which began in the streets of a company town inside the doors of a privately owned tavern. We hold that article I, section 5 of the Alaska Constitution does not apply to the proprietor of a small establishment such as the Crazy Horse. Absent such a constitutional limitation, the proprietor of a small establishment such as the Crazy Horse may validly refuse to serve anyone for any reason not prohibited by statute. See, e.g., AS 18.80.230. [12] As a matter of law, the rationale in the shopping center and university cases does not overcome the private autonomy of a small proprietor in the conduct of its business. Given our conclusion, we leave to a more appropriate case our resolution of the question presented in the shopping center cases.