Legal Question in Constitutional Law in North Carolina
Age descrimination
A local mall recently enacted a rule that anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian. My question is: is it legal to demand to see identification of someone based on one's assumption of their age? I wonder because if a police officer asks you for ID you can ask them if you are free to go, if they are not ready to enact a Terry stop then you may walk away without showing them your ID. Is the same true for say a mall security guard?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Age descrimination
The constitution limits only the authority of the government. The mall is private property. Its owners can set whatever rules they like regarding access, so long as those rules do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion or other suspect classifications. Discriminating against the elderly would probably be illegal, but treating minors differently from adults is allowed.
The owners are within their rights to demand that people prove their age in order enter or to remain inside. The fact that security guards will be the ones asking for identification does not alter the fact that they are private actors rather than public law enforcement.
Someone who does not want to show their ID to the mall security guards is indeed free to walk away -- not just from the guard, but from the mall. Someone who refuses to show ID but insists on staying becomes a trespasser and can be removed by use of reasonable force or by the police.
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