... Pete:

>> This is of course not a First Amendment issue as the Mall is private property.

In California, it most definitely is a free speech issue. Our state Supreme Court held that a private mall owner could not force off the premises students who were soliciting support for a political cause (Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center).

The decision was based on California constitutional grounds and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supremes said that states could provide protections greater than those contained in the U.S. Constitution and that free speech rights could be extended to public malls without violating private property rights.

The California court had held that malls were open to the public and that the exercise of free speech harmed no interest of the owners. The court made a point of the fact that shopping centers are replacing traditional downtown business districts as places of public congregation and are therefore important locations for the exercise of free speech.

I haven't researched the issue, but suspect that other states have followed California's lead in this regard.

So, perhaps technically not a "First Amendment" issue, but definitely a "free speech" issue.

----- jim o\-S