New York Court of Appeals
Shad Alliance, Respondents v. Smith Haven Mall, Appellant
December 19, 198566 N.Y.2d 496
Summary
The Court held that New York's free‑speech provision, article I, § 8, limits only state action and therefore does not require a privately owned shopping mall to permit hand‑billing. The appellate court's summary‑judgment order in favor of the mall was reversed and the mall’s blanket prohibition was upheld. Chief Judge Wachtler dissented, arguing for a modern, functional‑forum approach, while Judge Jasen concurred, emphasizing limited nondiscrimination constraints on the mall’s common‑law right of exclusion.