Mall boycotted over anti-youth fascism

Clearview Mall is a shopping complex in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. The 'is' in that last sentence may soon be replaced by 'was', as the mall seems to be unconcerned about losing much of its customer base.

Clearview Mall recently instituted a new rule declaring that teenagers who are 16 or younger must be accompanied by an adult 21 or over on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 PM. Yes, 4 PM! Four!!! So let's get this straight: If you're 16 (often thought to be perfect mall age), you have to be out of the mall by 4!

Certain legal principles deem malls to be public conveyances (even if privately owned). They are the commercial avenues of modern America. California courts have backed up this notion since at least the '70s. If Louisiana contradicts this, then I'd have to question the constitutionality of the Louisiana law. There's general agreement among the public that malls are places of public assembly. What's effectively a mall curfew thus would be a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

But Clearview Mall's right-wing policy stands. There is hope, however. In the first week since enforcement was stepped up, over 1,000 area teenagers pledged to boycott the mall entirely on weekends to protest the unconventional curfew. The mall remains smug in the face of this boycott, and boasts that losing business isn't a concern. The curfew is enforced by sheriff's deputies at the mall entrance who card customers. Several adults have been turned away because they did not carry an ID.

The mall's excuse for the curfew is a series of unfortunate but isolated crimes. Among these incidents, someone tried to blow up a toilet with an M-80. Well, someone blew up a toilet with an M-80 once at my high school before I enrolled there, but that didn't seem to lead to any more adult supervision (unless you count that idiotic dress code in what was otherwise a discipline-free zone). The more important point is that the mall is unfairly punishing all teenagers for the actions of a few.

Other malls around the country have been enforcing similar curfews in recent years.

I think it's time for states to start passing statutes outlining what malls are allowed to do. They need to start with the principle that malls have - like it or not - become where people today assemble. I wish suburban malls hadn't helped kill the cities, but they have. As long as there's malls, we have to have laws. (That almost rhymes!)

(Source: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-10/120374883251080.xml&coll=1)