|
The PruneYard Shopping Center is a sprawling 250,000 sq. ft. (23,000 m²) shopping center located in Campbell, California at the intersection of Campbell Ave. and Bascom Ave., just east of California Highway 17. It also features three office towers, one of which is the tallest building in the area outside of downtown San Jose, and an inn. It was built in 1964 and renovated in 1994.
In the late 1970s, the PruneYard was involved in a free speech dispute with some local high school students that ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court. See Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74 (1980). In American constitutional law, the PruneYard is famous for its role in establishing two important rules:
- under the California Constitution, individuals may peacefully exercise their right to free speech in parts of private shopping centers regularly held open to the public, subject to reasonable regulations adopted by the shopping centers
- under the U.S. Constitution, states can provide their citizens with broader rights in their constitutions than under the federal Constitution, so long as those rights do not infringe on any federal constitutional rights
Because of the PruneYard case, people who visit shopping centers in California may regularly encounter people seeking money or attention for various causes, including charitable solicitations, qualifying petitions for amendments to the state constitution, voter registration drives, and sometimes a panhandler. In turn, many shopping centers have posted signs to explain that they do not endorse the views of people exercising their right to free speech, and that if patrons do not give them money, the speakers will go away.
External links
|
