Downs v. Town of Guilderland et al.

Case Status

Closed

Case Description

(N.D.N.Y., Index No. 04 Civ 738 (LEK/DRH)) (direct).

This case concerns the right to wear a tee-shirt expressing a political point of view in the public areas of a shopping mall.

On March 3, 2003, Stephen Downs was shopping at a mall in Guilderland, New York when he was stopped by a security guard for wearing a tee shirt that stated "Give Peace a Chance/Peace on Earth." Mr. Downs refused a request by both the guard and a Guilderland Police Officer to remove his tee-shirt or leave the mall. He was subsequently arrested, placed in handcuffs and detained by the police for roughly an hour. Mr. Downs was charged with trespassing – "knowingly enter[ing] and remain[ing] unlawfully upon [the] premises." He was then arraigned before the Guilderland Town Court and released on his own recognizance. The Town Court dismissed the trespass charge against Downs with prejudice.

Mr. Downs filed a suit against the Town of Guilderland and the mall in state court claiming that "the actions of the defendants, individually and in concert, violated [the] plaintiff’s clear and well-established [federal and state] constitutionally protected rights to freedom of speech, freedom to travel, equal protection of the law and freedom from infringements on his liberty without due process of law." The defendants removed the suit to federal court. Upon a withdrawal of the federal constitution claims, the suit was remanded to state court.

As of July 2007, pre-trial discovery in this case is ongoing.

Printer-friendly Version