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..