Legal Question in Constitutional Law in North Carolina

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.