1ST AMENDMENT DEPRAVATION AT THE SOUTH COAST PLAZA MALL

555 Imagine being at a favorite destination such as Disneyland and being told that you cannot take pictures. The security tells you that they are a privately-owned property and their policy prohibits photography. South Coast Plaza is one of the most successful shopping malls in the United States, arguably the world. Shopping tourists fly into the John Wayne Airport, less than 5 minutes away by car, to purchase high end consumer goods that they could not find anywhere else and then fly back home. This happened on June 16, 2018 at the South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa, California. The metadata on the shows that it was created at 4:31PM. I made a trip there to have two of my laptops inspected by technicians at the Microsoft Store inside the mall. After my appointment, a stroll followed providing an opportunity to engage my amateur passion of photography. My expertise is Black & White images. And a mall with its interior setting usually gives off amazing shadings on pictures. They have a carousel downstairs and a balloon concession several hundred or so balloons in the air creating a huge canopy. Coming down from the escalator, it was a stunning image. It was Friday afternoon and people were beginning to stream in from work to partake in the many restaurants and bars inside the mall. It's always incredibly busy there. For perspective, they still have the Sears Department Store on the north side of the sprawling property operating in full swing when all others around the country are practically closing down. The encounter started when I took a picture of the Rolex Store, at a distance of about 10-20 feet. The windows had some amazing merchandizing and posters. There were at least 3 Rolex security guards inside aside from the sales staff. There was one guard standing just inside the entrance. He saw me take a picture and sidestepped behind one of the pillars. Wagging his fingers, he yelled, "no pictures." There was another security guard, clearly employed by the mall, who was about 20 or so feet who either saw or heard the exchange. He did not approach me but got on his walkie-talkie attached to the lapel on his shoulder. Down the escalator I went, continuing to take a picture or two. There was a bench close to the carousel where I paused and sat down. About a minute passed when another security guard appeared and started questioning me. A few minutes had already elapsed before I started taking the of this encounter. At this point, he had already told me (off camera) that they do not allow pictures being taken inside the mall. In essence, he threatened to eject me and call the Costa Mesa Police Department for what amounts to trespassing. The rest was captured on film. All that for taking pictures, an activity protected by the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution.

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