Court Opinion

ID: 9422850
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:04:50.170092+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:39.811737
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Harlan,
whom Mr. Justice Black and Mr. Justice White join,
dissenting.
The pivotal issue in this case is whether petitioners’ exclusion from Glen Echo, a private amusement park, was the product of state action. I accept the premise that in arresting these petitioners Collins was exercising his authority as deputy sheriff rather than his right as an individual under Maryland law, see 225 Md., at 431, 171 A. 2d, at 721, to arrest them for a misdemeanor being committed in his presence. It seems clear to me, however, that the involvement of the State is no different from what it would have been had the arrests been made by a regular policeman dispatched from police headquarters.
I believe, therefore, that this case is controlled by the principles discussed in Mr. Justice Black’s opinion in Bell v. Maryland, post, p. 318, decided today, and accordingly would affirm the judgment below.