NYCLU sues Crossgates Mall, Pyramid Co., Town of Guilderland, and Guilderland Police Department for unlawfully arresting and violating the free speech rights of anti-war t-shirt wearer

For immediate release — May 27, 2004
Contact: Melanie Trimble, (518) 436-8594

The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed suit in State Supreme Court alleging the Crossgates Mall for violating the free speech rights of Stephen R. Downs at Crossgates Mall on March 3, 2003. Also named in the suit is the Crossgates Mall owner, the Pyramid Company, as well as the Town of Guilderland and its Police Department.

On that March date, Downs was wearing a T-shirt purchased earlier that day from a retailer at Crossgates Mall with the words “Peace on Earth” on one side and “Give Peace a Chance” on the other. Mall security guards confronted Downs and asked him to remove the T-shirt or leave the mall. Upon his refusal to comply with the guards' requests, the Guilderland Police Department placed him under arrest.

The NYCLU charges that Crossgates Mall, as a large retail establishment whose existence is subsidized by tax incentives from the Town of Guilderland, is a public area in which the right of free speech is guaranteed. The lawsuit also charges that Guilderland's Police Department unlawfully arrested Downs.

Downs is seeking declaratory judgment that Crossgates Mall is a public forum for the purposes of the free speech protections of the US and NYS constitutions. He is also seeking compensatory damages and restitution for his unlawful arrest and subsequent loss of liberty.

Melanie Trimble, executive director of the Capital Region Chapter of the NYCLU said, “As a matter of public policy and common sense, individuals should be allowed to wear clothing that expresses their personal opinions, even their own ideological views. The mall has no right to pick and choose which messages they find offensive.”