KING OF THE CASTLE, OR NOT? (March 2026)

Due to a line of cases that started 45 years ago and includes the recent case of Salazar v. Majestic Realty Co., shopping center owners are not kings of their castles.  In Salazar, a political activist wanted to distribute leaflets at a privately owned shopping center.  The center denied his request based on its policy of prohibiting expressive activity, including leafletting, anywhere on the property.  The activist sued the center’s owner and management to challenge that policy, and the Court of Appeal granted the challenge, holding that the center’s policy violated the free speech clauses of the California Constitution.  The court reasoned that some parts of shopping centers, specifically the areas designed and furnished to permit and encourage the public to congregate and socialize at leisure, are tantamount to public forums.  Accordingly, the court held that the constitutional right of free speech, including leafletting, extended to the “public forum” areas, even though the shopping center is privately owned.  The court noted that the “public forum” areas do not include the areas around the entrances to the business establishments in the center, which were not intended for the purpose of the public congregating and socializing.  In the end, the court banned the complete prohibition on expressive activity in shopping centers, but it allowed shopping centers to impose appropriate restrictions on the time, place, and manner.