Rainbow Family in Court
Case Listings
When the Forest Service first began proposing that a permit be
required for groups to assemble on public land, many were
confident the courts would uphold "First Amendment protection." Now that the Forest Service has promulgated a regulation to
criminalizes assemblies of more than 75 people on public forest
land without Forest Service permission some objectively verifiable
facts begin to raise doubts:
(a) the United States government
filed a federal civil suit against the "Rainbow Family," and
thirty-odd individuals, seeking a declaration that the 75 person
limit was "consistent with the First Amendment," and an order to
enjoin the Rainbow Family, et. al. from gathering in any National
Forest anywhere in the United States in violation of the
regulation;
(b) the government then moved to dismiss the
complaint against all the individually named defendants who
answered, and for default judgment against all named defendants
who failed to answer;
(c) thus, avoiding any meaningful "due
process," the government obtained a default judgment as to the
constitutional validity of the regulations;
(d) criminal charges
were lodged against five people in North Carolina, alleging that
they violated the 75 person limit; a trail resulted in four
convictions and one acquittal, constitutional issues are being
briefed separately;
(e) criminal charges were lodged against
three people in Pennsylvania, alleging that they violated the 75
person limit; trail in that matter is pending..