The Purpose(s) of Education, Public & Private -Reply

[Mark Tushnet]

This is straying into off-list subjects, but,
taking off from the questions about converting VMI
into a private institution:  The city of Las Vegas
has created a downtown pedestrian mall, which is
leased to an operating company that has
substantial authority to develop rules regarding
the use of the space, including rules about speech
activities like distributing literature.  The idea
is to revitalize the downtown area by attracting
tourists and generating more tax reneveue.

Suppose that, instead of leasing the mall, the
city sold it to the operating company.  Could the
operating company act like Lloyd Corp. and bar all
speech activities? Remember, this is downtown Las
Vegas.  Would it be different if the city sold
public property located on the outskirts of town?

When I gave a variant of this problem as an exam
question, my students divided on whether the lease
arrangement meant that the operating company was a
"state actor" when it banned distribution of
political literature from tables but not by hand.

Mark Tushnet
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Ave. NW
Washington, DC  20001

202-662-9106
   (fax) 202-662-9497
tushnet at law.georgetown.edu