Opinion ID: 2189706
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Equitable Life

Text: Equitable Life is the owner of the Genesee Valley Center, located in Flint Township, Michigan. The center is an enclosed mall consisting of three major department stores and approximately ninety-two smaller stores, shops, and restaurants. Like Woodland Mall, the Genesee Valley Center has common areas which are designed to facilitate travel within the complex as well as to promote rest, relaxation, and socialization. The area is aesthetically pleasing so as to encourage such activity. Equitable Life maintains a strict policy permitting only limited noncommercial activity on its premises. Probably the most severe limitation is that Equitable Life permits such activity for no more than one consecutive two-hour period per day on two consecutive days, twice a year. [2] On February 17, 1982, the Michigan Citizens Lobby contacted the Genesee Valley Center and informed the personnel there that it desired to solicit signatures in the center for a petition initiating the legislation described above. The Michigan Citizens Lobby was told that the center permitted such activity, but only in accordance with its written policy. On February 18, 1982, the Lobby informed the center that it believed such restrictions violated Michigan law and that the organization would not comply with them. Later the center learned that the organization intended to circulate petitions in the mall on February 20, 1982, and that local authorities would not intercede. The center contacted the Citizens Lobby and agreed to permit them to gather signatures on February 20, 1982, on a one-time-only basis, subject to less severe restrictions than those ordinarily imposed under the center's policy. On February 20, 1982, the Citizens Lobby conducted its initiative activity on the center premises for a six-hour period without incident and gathered approximately 1,300 signatures. When it became clear that the Citizens Lobby intended to pursue this activity on future dates at the center, the center sought relief in the courts. On February 24, 1982, Equitable Life Assurance Society and others filed a complaint, seeking a declaratory judgment and preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent the Michigan Citizens Lobby and others from entering onto Equitable Life's properties for the purpose of engaging in noncommercial activity of any nature or, in the alternative, to declare that Equitable Life's policy permitting limited noncommercial activity constituted reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions with which the Michigan Citizens Lobby must comply. [3] On the same date, Equitable Life also filed a motion for an ex parte temporary restraining order enjoining any noncommercial activities by the Michigan Citizens Lobby on Equitable Life's properties. [4] The trial judge did not grant the motion, but instead scheduled a hearing for February 26, 1982, on the propriety of issuing a temporary restraining order. Following the hearing, the trial judge issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the Citizens Lobby. On March 3, 1982, the Michigan Citizens Lobby answered Equitable Life's complaint and filed a counterclaim for declaratory relief and a preliminary and permanent injunction barring Equitable Life from interfering with its rights of petition, assembly, expression, press, and the initiation of legislation in the general public areas, including interior mall areas, of all shopping centers owned or managed by Equitable Life in Michigan, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Both sides moved for summary judgment. The Michigan Citizens Lobby also requested permanent injunctive relief. After an evidentiary hearing on April 8, 1982, the trial judge rendered an opinion on March 14, 1983, concluding that under the Michigan Constitution, a right of access in the mall area of a large private shopping center can exist for the purpose of soliciting signatures on an initiative proposal where the activity comports with the public nature of the property and does not unreasonably impair the value or use of the property as a shopping center. The trial judge stated that this determination must be made on a case-by-case basis and that an evidentiary hearing would be conducted to determine the public nature of Equitable Life's shopping malls and the detrimental effect that the Citizens Lobby's activities would have on Equitable Life's interests. On May 16, 1983, the trial judge issued an order in accordance with his opinion. The Court of Appeals granted Equitable Life's application for leave to appeal. On February 29, 1984, this Court granted Equitable Life's application for leave to appeal prior to decision by the Court of Appeals, and also granted leave to appeal in the Woodland case. 418 Mich 955. III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INITIATIVE POWER The importance of the power of initiative in Michigan's constitutional scheme cannot be overemphasized. In a democracy, governmental power ultimately rests with the people, and art 2, § 9, reflects this principle. As we stated in Kuhn v Dep't of Treasury, 384 Mich 378, 385; 183 NW2d 796 (1971): [U]nder a system of government based on grants of power from the people, constitutional provisions by which the people reserve to themselves a direct legislative voice ought to be liberally construed.[10] [10] In the last analysis, the people are the fountainhead of law in a democracy, and therefore, it is natural that the legislative article should contain a reservation by the people of the right to make laws directly, through use of the statutory initiative and referendum.... Lederle, The Legislative Article, in Pealy (ed), The Voter and the Michigan Constitution in 1958 (1958), p 47. The power of initiative removes from the Legislature the exclusive right to make laws and leaves it a coordinate legislative body with the people. Advisory Opinion on Constitutionality of 1982 PA 47, 418 Mich 49, 66; 340 NW2d 817 (1983). The initiative was in large part a response to the failure of political parties to enact promised legislation. Hamilton v Secretary of State, 227 Mich 111, 130; 198 NW 843 (1924). As a consequence, the electorate ... took matters into its own hands and constructed a constitutional procedure by which it could ... bring about desired legislation without the aid of the legislature. The same issue we face today was decided by the Washington Supreme Court in Alderwood Associates v Washington Environmental Council, 96 Wash 2d 230; 635 P2d 108 (1981). In the concurring opinion of Justice Dolliver, it was stated that the role created for the people by the initiative power is closely akin to that of a fourth branch of government. Id., 252. It should be noted that the initiative process is not a right against government in the sense of [the guarantee of freedom of speech]. Rather, amendment 7 [the reservation of the power of initiative] is a declaration by the people in their constitution that they are part of the legislative process. Amendment 7 declares not that the people have a right against government but that the people are part of the apparatus of government  the legislative branch. As a part of government the initiative process may be exercised, as may other aspects of government, only in such a way as not to restrict the use of private property so as to amount to a taking. [ Id., 251.] Access to people is the life blood of the initiative power. The requisite number of signatures cannot be obtained unless the petition circulators have access to other citizens in numbers sufficiently large to secure the constitutional requirement of eight percent of the total vote last cast for Governor. Further, unlike cases involving dissemination of political messages in general, with regard to the exercise of the initiative power, there must be personal contact with individual voters. There is no other legal method of obtaining the constitutionally required number of signatures. See Batchelder v Allied Stores Int'l, supra, 92. In fact, the circulator of the petition is required by statute to certify that each signature on the petition was signed in his presence .... MCL 168.544c; MSA 6.1544(3). See MCL 168.482; MSA 6.1482. It is common knowledge that not all initiative drives are successful. To acquire signatures equal to eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor is, in fact, quite a formidable task. By comparison, we note that new political parties can place their candidates on the primary ballot by merely obtaining signatures equal to one percent of those who voted for the successful candidate for Secretary of State in the preceding election. MCL 168.685; MSA 6.1685. But see MCL 168.560b(4); MSA 6.1560(2)(4). Generally, the number of signatures required for ballot access in other situations is also relatively small. [5] The major regional malls here provide a unique opportunity for signature gatherers to collect the needed signatures. As counsel for Equitable Life stated in the trial court, this group of defendants thinks that the shopping center is a good place to collect signatures which it is .... (Emphasis added.) Approximately 47,000 people visit the Genesee Valley Center every Saturday, and Equitable Life's expert witness testified that eighty-six percent of the residents of the greater Flint area use the Genesee Valley Center frequently. Unlike other locations where large numbers of people gather, visitors to the large malls are encouraged to come for a variety of activities: to shop, have a meal, get a haircut, see a movie, meet friends, and relax in the seating provided in common areas. Claims of persons exercising the power of initiative to access to such large numbers of people in this setting should not be lightly disregarded. IV. THE RIGHTS OF THE MALL OWNERS The owners of the shopping malls involved in these cases contend that compelling them to permit initiative activity in the malls would be an unconstitutional infringement of their rights under both the Michigan and the federal constitutions. The mall owners contend that their rights of free speech and association, guaranteed by the First Amendment and by Const 1963, art 1, §§ 3 and 5, protect them against being compelled by the state to be a forum for the beliefs of others. Wooley v Maynard, 430 US 705; 97 S Ct 1428; 51 L Ed 2d 752 (1977). We believe that the fact that the malls are open to the public make it unlikely that visitors will associate the petitioners' activity with the views of the mall owners, and the owners are free to post signs disassociating themselves with the initiative being promoted. PruneYard Shopping Center v Robins, supra, 87. The owners point to their right against being deprived of property without just compensation and due process of law. These rights are protected against infringement by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as art 1, § 17, and art 10, § 2, of the Michigan Constitution. The importance of these property rights cannot be questioned. See Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit v Village of Orchard Lake, 333 Mich 389, 392; 53 NW2d 308 (1952). One essential element of protected property rights is the right to exclude others, Kaiser Aetna v United States, 444 US 164, 179-180; 100 S Ct 383; 62 L Ed 2d 332 (1979), and it is on this aspect of their property rights that the mall owners base their claim. Historically, property rights have not been without limits. They have, for example, been held subject to the state's police power. Patchak v Lansing Twp, 361 Mich 489, 498; 105 NW2d 406 (1960). Further, the voluntary opening of the mall property to use by the general public diminishes, although it does not extinguish, the owner's right to exclude. In PruneYard, the United States Supreme Court focused on the obvious and most significant property right of the mall owners as follows: Here the California Supreme Court decided that Art 1, §§ 2 and 3, of the California Constitution gave appellees the right to solicit signatures on appellants' property in exercising their state rights of free expression and petition. In so doing, the California Supreme Court rejected appellants' claim that recognition of such a right violated appellants' right to exclude others, which is a fundamental component of their federally protected property rights. [Emphasis added. PruneYard, supra, pp 79-80.] In sum, we find that the intrusion on the rights of the shopping center owners by the activities of persons seeking signatures on initiative petitions is minimal. In the California Supreme Court's opinion in the PruneYard case, Robins v PruneYard Shopping Center, 23 Cal 3d 899, 911; 153 Cal Rptr 854; 592 P2d 341 (1979), the Court concluded: A handful of additional orderly persons soliciting signatures and distributing handbills in connection therewith, under reasonable regulations adopted by defendants to assure that these activities do not interfere with normal business operations ... would not markedly dilute defendant's property rights. [Citations omitted.] In view of our holding that the owners may adopt reasonable restrictions as to time, place, and manner, the owners are assured that orderly initiative activity will have little or no negative effect on the use of the property for the commercial purpose to which it is dedicated. [6] As Justice Dolliver in his concurring opinion in Alderwood, supra, p 253, stated: Given the importance of the initiative procedure, I do not feel that plaintiff's property rights were unreasonably restricted. The property remains in the possession of its owners. The State does not appropriate it or demand exclusive use of it. The people merely desire access to gather signatures on an initiative petition, an integral part of the state's political process. Implicit in the initiative process is the need to gather signatures in a manner which does not violate or unreasonably restrict the rights of private property owners. V. CONCLUSION We hold that Const 1963, art 2, § 9, authorizes initiative activity in the common areas of large, privately owned shopping malls, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, and that the minimal intrusion on the rights of the mall owners is justified in view of the importance of the power of initiative reserved by the people. In Woodland, the mall had a strict policy of complete exclusion of the activity pursued by the Michigan Citizens Lobby. This policy is clearly violative of Const 1963, art 2, § 9. Therefore, we would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, vacate the permanent injunction entered by the trial court, and remand the case to the trial court for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. In Equitable Life Assurance, the mall permitted activities such as those sought to be engaged in here, but only on a very limited and restricted basis. The trial court issued an opinion, order, and partial declaratory judgment in favor of the Michigan Citizens Lobby. The trial judge, however, made no finding as to whether Equitable Life's policy constituted reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Therefore, we would affirm the ruling of the trial court insofar as it is consistent with this opinion, but remand for a determination whether Equitable Life's policy regarding initiative activity in the mall constitutes reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.