THOMAS v. REAGAN
USDC Cr. No. 84-3552
William Thomas
1440 N Street NW, Apt. #410
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 462-0757
March 31, 1987
Dear Ms. Alley:
This is to inform you that on March 23, 1987 U.S. Park Service
employee Phil Walsh hand delivered to my demonstration site in
Lafayette Park two pages, photocopied under a U.S. Interior
Department letterhead, and bearing the heading "Permit Conditions."
This document appeared over your signature and bore a date stamp of
March 20, 1987.
A second copy of that same "document" was hand delivered to me
in Lafayette Park by U.S. Park Service employee Frank Duncan on
March 24, 1987.
On March 26, 1987 Frank Duncan hand delivered what he
identified as a revised edition of the aforesaid document, under
the undated signature of Al Dale, which included phone numbers.
Due to what I would describe as the draconian enforcement by
the Park Police of petty regulations against myself and others, I
have been compelled to deal with certain results of that abuse of
police power in court. I regret that I have not had the
opportunity to respond to your document prior to this, but that
delay has been due entirely to the intense police harassment.
After in-depth consideration it appears to me that your
document:
A. "especially note(s three) activities that are prohibited
in all park areas" (listed in your "document" as "1," "2," and
"7") and,
B. "imposes (nine) additional conditions on all
demonstrations occurring in Lafayette Park."
FIRST items "1" and "2" of your especially prohibited
activities bear absolutely no relation to any activity in which
either myself, my wife Ellen, or, to the best of my knowledge, any
other individual is involved in Lafayette Park. Of more immediate
importance is the fact that your third (#"7") especially
prohibited activity, "camping," defined by both your document and
the Code Of Federal Regulations as "using park land for living
accommodation purposes," is also absolutely unrelated to any
activities in which Ellen or myself are engaged (SEE Declaration
of William Thomas, attached hereto). It seems a serious problem
has arisen in that Park Police officials are utilizing totalitarian
police state tactics, under color of the "camping" regulation, in
a concerted effort to interfere with or terminate our efforts to
promote a philosophy of "Peace through Reason" in opposition to the
philosophy of "Peace through Strength" (read: force and violence),
a policy publicly promoted by the administration of this
Government. I believe that this alleged effort is accomplished by
1) mis-defining "camping" as "sleeping," and 2) charging a
violation of the "camping" regulation upon the simple premise that
we are "apparently sleeping."
SECOND none of the nine (9) "additional conditions" imposed by
your document bear any RATIONAL relationship to the activities in
which Ellen or myself have been engaged.
Moreover on March 20, 1987, while Dr. James Evans, Robert
Dorrough, and I were in the process of assembling a speakers'
platform, pursuant to an NPS DEMONSTRATION PERMIT, numerous Park
Police officers, under the direct supervision of Lt. Hugh Irwin,
confiscated (under color of "abandoned property") and refused to
return three 1" x 6" boards which we intended to use immediately
for mounting three electronic speakers.
It is my position that ... in addition to actually terminating
the NPS permitted activity in which we were lawfully engaged ...
the actions of the Park Police were arbitrary, capricious, abusive,
unreasonable, irrational, damaging to myself and others, and,
thereby, wrong.
We feel that the best interests of all concerned parties will
be served if this issue is resolved in writing.
We also think that if your office continues to condone, or
fails to halt, the arbitrary and unreasonable abuse of police
authority as outlined above, not only will you be acting, in
principle, contrary to the most fundamental precepts of civiliza-
tion and sanity, and to the detriment of individual freedom and
personal excellence, but also in violation of at least two
Constitutional Amendments and several U.S. statutes.
Therefore I request that you take appropriate steps to insure
we are no longer subjected to being charged with violations of the
"camping" regulation under color of sleeping, and that the Park
Police cease and desist from seizing, under color of "abandoned
property," materials which we are lawfully and harmlessly utilizing
for communicating an issue of broad public concern, and to stop
sending us documents which bear no relation to anything we are
doing.
Your Friend,
William Thomas
copies:
Donald Hodel
Manus Fish
Richard Robbins
Patricia Bangert
Lynn Herring
Case Listing --- Proposition One ---- Peace Park