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The Presidential Pot Pardon

2 April 2023 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
      St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
_//\_______________________________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

                1 April 2023                                                 \ Public Information Post /

            The Presidential Pot Pardon

        In a well known Facebook group on ‘Rainbow Gathering’ affairs, on 3/15/23 an anonymous “Group participant” wisely and kindly posted this information, most helpful to many afflicted chums.
That message is rendered here with further information and useful links,
to be easily shared more widely:

<< Last fall President Biden officially pardoned everyone who has ever suffered a federal charge for simple possession of marijuana –

        October 06, 2022
        A Proclamation on Granting Pardon for the Offense of Simple Possession of Marijuana
        https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/10/06/granting-pardon-for-the-offense-of-simple-possession-of-marijuana/

If you ever got nailed at a Gathering for simple possession of weed, you were in a U.S. National Forest, and it may have been a Federal charge/conviction… (such busts by local cops under State laws are not affected). If you were a citizen or legal resident at the time of the offense, you can register at the Department of Justice to receive a Certificate of Pardon.

Just wanted to share a few things from my experience with the process.

First, and most importantly… you need to provide an email address, but no physical address or phone number. So if you’re concerned about giving your info out to the feds, no worry.

Second… you can do the whole thing online – DOJ has an application portal. They might email you for more info, but no need to talk to someone on the phone if you don’t want to.

Third… it’s pretty quick, at least now. I got mine in about 10 days.

Fourth… you can get pardoned even if you were never charged or convicted. So if you have something pending or something they didn’t charge you for but potentially could, you can still get the pardon and not have to worry about it in the future.

Fifth… you were technically already pardoned when Biden issued the order. The whole process with DOJ is just to get a registered Certificate – you can pursue it now or later on if you want.

Finally… it is a complete and unconditional pardon. So if you have any unpaid fines from it, or jail time you didn’t serve, it’s wiped away with the pardon.

There’s only about 6,500 people* that had simple marijuana possession charges in the last 30 years. I figure a lot of them have got to be from Gatherings because there was no one else they were bugging for simple possession on federal property. I know in Utah alone in 2003 they charged hundreds of people.    [*_number sounds way low ]

Hope this helps some of you! Personally my conviction never really affected me,
but I felt like it was BS I ever got charged, so I wanted that pardon!             >>

Further Notes ~

        The Pardon is narrow in scope, limited to marijuana, but it goes back forever, for anyone “…charged with or prosecuted for this offense on or before the date of this proclamation.”
It does not extend to criminal charges for ‘Distribution’ or other controlled substances, but arguably it should include related possession counts for ‘Paraphernalia’ (pipes, bongs, etc.). Applicants are encouraged to submit such secondary charges for Pardon as well… we have raised this question with DOJ and urged reasonable flexibility on this kind of marijuana prosecution, in accord with Biden’s intent.

        Most pot busts at Rainbow Gatherings have occurred in police roadblocks and ‘gauntlet’ tactics on traffic near the site. Federal Courts have found these stops & searches to be unconstitutional – targeting free assembly and violating your First & Fourth Amendment rights.
    If it happened to you, this fact is significant, exposing the misuse of marijuana enforcement as a pretext for repression. When submitting documentation for a Pardon, add this info in protest:
Make a record of these constitutional violations, citing the ‘Rainbow Roadblock’ cases listed and linked below… we pioneered this niche in civil rights law.

        A likely outcome of these busts is also distinctive to the Gatherings – “Collateral Forfeiture”: Many victims have been forced to appear within days at a special ‘court’ venue near the site, then induced to waive any defense, enter a “no-contest” plea, and pay this fine – just to get away and avoid trial hassles for months far away from home. The cops evade legal challenges in this way, and in effect these prosecutions are concealed: Unless such cases are contested and docketed for trial, the District Court Clerk sees nothing, and there is no public court record of these police actions.
    If this happened to you, the Pardon Attorney cannot retrieve court information on your case, and must rely on the documents you submit. At least, provide the original LEO citation/summons on the marijuana charge, and the Order issued by the magistrate or administrator when you appeared, confirming ‘collateral forfeiture’ and your payment as the final disposition of the case.

        We inquired on a few other aspects of the Pardon program, to clarify what people can expect:
~  Unlike successful appeals, post-trial acquittals or exonerations, a Pardon does not “expunge” a conviction from your record. It is a simpler legal action, extending ‘forgiveness’, making it official – and maybe good enough, making this charge trivial and removing the stigma.
~  Nor does a Pardon enable the recipient to recover fines or other payments already made, or to seek legal remedies for imprisonment on marijuana charges. It cannot undo what courts have lawfully done in these cases… it is only a formal apology that changes their meaning.
~  However it can be a solution if one has an outstanding federal court Warrant for failure to appear (FTA) or for unpaid fines. Call the court Clerk to verify a pending warrant… get legal help to file motions to ‘quash’ or vacate the warrant and dismiss the charge, with the Pardon in support.

        IN SUM – people affected and eligible are encouraged to seek the Presidential Pot Pardon… there are some real benefits in following up with the DOJ process, and no apparent downsides.
    The personal info they request is not intrusive, and the legal info is already a matter of-record – nothing “they” don’t already know. The `statistical` purposes are valid in the big picture, if enough data can show how blacks & hippies have been targeted, where and when.
    If you still have your paperwork from the bust, use it for reference and give specifics for the record of the Pot-Pardon program – good for ‘Freedom of Information’ purposes later on.
    As for the Certificate of Pardon, it is a useful thing to have: If this issue ever comes up in another legal or employment matter, you have proof in-hand to resolve it quickly.

        Hope this is more helpful.

                In service: s.c. addison, scribe

Pardon Program ≈ LINKS:

OMB Control No: 1123-0014
Application for Certificate of Pardon for Simple Possession of Marijuana
https://www.justice.gov/iqextranet/EForm.aspx?__cid=Pardon_prod&__fid=5

Info/FAQ Page… ‘Learn more about the pardon’:
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession

The October 6 Proclamation
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/10/06/granting-pardon-for-the-offense-of-simple-possession-of-marijuana/

Biden’s Statement
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/

Certificate of Pardon (redacted sample)
https://www.free-assembly.org/certpardon_sample/

FOIA
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardon-attorney-foia

‘Rainbow Roadblock’ Cases:

    (Links go to summary pages with key case documents)…

• Park v. Forest Service, 205 F.3d 1034 (8th Cir. 2000)
     https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/courtstorms/mo96-park/

• Addison v. Forest Service, 108 F. Supp.2d 1365 (M.D.Fla. 2000)
     https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/courtstorms/fl98-addison/

• Hadaway v. Tooke, 2:18-cv-107-RWS (N.D.Georgia 2018
     https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/courtstorms/rbw18-ga/hadaway/

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Statement to T-Counsel, undelivered

28 February 2023 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /

                                                   21 Feb. 2023

        Reviving Raps on the Regs…
           Statement to T-Counsel, undelivered

September 2021 -> September 2022… a solid year of renewed work on the Forest Service ‘Group Use’ permit regulations – mostly my own, going banzai gangbusters for a real solution.  Folks had to wake up to this dormant dilemma still afflicting the gatherings and our rights, to cooperate and create momentum for real policy change.

It commenced with a catalyzing move – relaunching the CFR Petition submitted to USDA (June 2018, Sept. 2021), daring to push for definitive amendments to correct the constitutional defects, demanding the fair rules we would get by winning the decisive First Amendment case.  New rounds of public info went out on the issues and this initiative, culminating in two Zoom seminars – on FS Regs Hipstories from the Gatherings, and the Petition Strategy to save them (Jan.-Feb. ’22).

In followup on the proposal, we requested a routine conference with the USDA UnderSecretary – but this got diverted into a series of 3 virtual meetings with FS officials, protracted into March in a classic display of stall tactics, ineptitude & stonewalling.  Then in May came the short letter Denying the Petition, with no real review.  So the 50th Anniversary Rainbow Gathering in Colorado was made unwelcome in Routt National Forest and declared illegal… not what we hoped for, but this game was Not over:::

A Vermont regional set for August presented an opportunity to prove our solution for fair authorization of free gatherings:  The ‘volunteer’ tactic succeeded, a good legal Win, but the flawed hippie ‘process’ on the backside raised flak… the facts on this project & controversy were outlined accountably in a 9/15 public report:  “Vermont gathering gets an Operating Plan” .  This set important precedents for the 2023 Gathering and the future, if confusions could be surmounted.

         As the Thanksgiving/Harvest Counsel approached, I encouraged friends who could attend to bring this discussion to that circle.  At the last minute, one sister offered to carry a simple message, if I would write one up – so I did…
But it was not delivered, and the Counsel ducked the whole issue of the Regs and what gatherers could do.

        The problem is not going away by ignoring it.
        That brief statement is now offered for the record, from the heart:

^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^

We have the right to assemble lawfully as individuals… it has been deprived and is still subverted by the USFS Group Use regulations. 
I have been deep in this struggle for decades, and we have created solid grounds for real progress. 
This is a crucial time to work together proactively.

The recent initiative in Vermont was a real step forward: It succeeded in getting an Operating Plan in accord with the traditions and long aspirations of the Gatherings, and having a legal event, protecting the personal standing of attendees in First Amendment exercise.  I take responsibility for suggesting and assisting this effort, but be clear that it was left in the hands of people headed for the land, reliant on their communications and choices.  I am saddened that the ‘process’ broke down and controversy arose.  These are important lessons.

The 2023 Rainbow Gathering should not be deemed “illegal” by the Forest Service/IC… It would be foolish and perilous to keep falling into that trap.  Folks are encouraged to build and improve on the model in Vermont, which was always designed to enable volunteers in cooperating openly and safely with responsible Foresters – without fear of prosecution, infringement on others, any fictional group or fraudulent agents.
The intent is to support and strengthen the consensus process in this way.

This is how a fair and constitutional rule for public assembly would work…
we can walk in these shoes to make a new path forward, and make that future real.
When we gather, we are all volunteers in service and respect – this vision is in harmony with that spirit.

Let informed and constructive discussions proceed.
Inquiries and ideas are welcome… as always, I will do my best to help.

        _scottie addison__(St. Louis MO…

v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v

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Vermont gathering gets an Operating Plan

17 September 2022 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
     _//\______________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

      15 September 2022                  ~ REPORT & COMMENTARY ~

                Vermont gathering gets an Operating Plan
                ~ a tactical breakthrough on the ‘Group Use’ Regs
                ___________________________________________________

__BACKDROP____

        The ‘Permit’ controversy confronting the Rainbow gatherings has been stalemated for the last 12 years. 
After the early era of prosecuting alleged leaders, then the mass citation tactics and straw-dog signer ploys since 2001, the Forest Service backed off in 2010, seemingly called a truce and issued a good Operating Plan for the “Peaceable Assembly” in Pennsylvania.

Arguably they were induced to do so by gatherers’ successful court fights after 2005 – especially the WVa’05 appeals that overturned nine convictions, and the lawsuit against fraudulent signers in NM’09, nullifying that permit and shredding the whole legal scheme.  They saw new constitutional arguments that they could not sidestep or surmount, and our ability to fight back… so they needed to avoid the next confrontation on these issues, and any decisive court case that they would lose.

Of course this could not last:  With Incident Command pushing enforcement policies in DC, OpPlans showed up with bad Rainbow ‘Group’ language & liabilities, lousy terms, separate fire permit requirements, and new signature demands.  Then they were abandoned entirely, substituting “Design Criteria” directives that were unilateral, non-negotiable, and do not authorize any special use.  As a result, every gathering since 2017 has been declared illegal, piling up political black marks.  The 50th Anniversary Rainbow Gathering in Colorado got hostile treatment, and the Forest Supervisor emphatically deemed it to be “unauthorized”.

Meanwhile since the Forest Service has not pushed or prosecuted on permits for awhile, gatherers have been lulled into complacency:  Most believe things are going along okay and nothing needs to be done – but the Regs still stand as law and can land on them hard anytime.
        NextGens know little of this historic fight, and are unready with much at stake.

__INITIATIVE____

        Rainbow’22 in Colorado was far away, so in the Northeast there were strong sentiments & skills for a regional gathering in August.  In light of the escalating FS Permit game, this seemed an opportunity to get a proper Operating Plan and set up a strong legal position to change the game.  So an Idea was brought to the vulnerable folks up-front, preparing to go to the woods in Vermont:

••  Don’t wait for Feds to show up… at the outset let 2 attendees propose ‘Individual Volunteer’ agreements to the District Ranger, giving notice of this assembly, requesting an OpPlan and offering to cooperate in support::: 
    No phony Permit signed, no fake Group implicated… preserving personal standing of participants, seizing the high ground for a legal gathering in the only way they can do so lawfully.

This idea has been brewing for a long time, observant of all the Regs cases and thought-out with care to be legally safe for volunteers, encumbering no others – and this seemed a good moment for a Win/Win scenario:  Either the FS accepts the Volunteer proposals and Grants OpPlan authorization, setting a valuable agency precedent – Or they Deny within 48 hours, and an unbeatable case against the Regs can go straight to federal court in a good constitutional Circuit.  There were great odds on winning the easy way.

Discussions on all this moved by email and phone over most of a week, then the idea was brought to a planned crew conference call in-prep for the gathering, laying out the logic and offering tech support if they liked it.  The only stated concern was that it might disrupt their good relations with local Foresters… In fact this approach in good-faith was more likely to make them better, taking the heat off of everybody.
    There was no other debate, no consensus suggested… the option was simply presented and left in their hands, to consider as they chose in their process.

In a couple days a stalwart sister from that crew got back and agreed to proceed, and the work got done to prepare the paper trail.  Purportedly another guy was going to step up as the 2nd volunteer, but he backed down – so only her package was submitted by fax to the Rochester District Ranger on August 18:
        ~ VolAgrmt_jBurt-sgFS(r.pdf        <( Form + Letter, 3 pp. redacted – direct link )

The proposed Agreement was counter-signed and approved by the District Ranger the same day.  Then after the weekend the FS delivered an Operating Plan at Texas Falls as agreed:
        ~ RainbowOperatingPlan_Texas Meadows08222022.pdf        <( 4 pp. )

    So, the plan WORKED, with a few glitches… we won:
    A rad direct action for a radically legal gathering.
    Then to ponder the path this opens, and the potentials of really doing this right…

__IMPLICATIONS____

[]      Any ‘special use’ of National Forest land has to be proposed by ‘somebody’ for the FS to approve it – basic public land law, normal procedure for everybody, not the problem.  But the standard Group Use application does only one thing – get a Permit for a ‘Group’… if none exists, signers are false agents of a fictional entity, attendees are bound without consent or protection, and the Permit is fraudulent. 18 USC 1001.  If this is the only way to apply, citizens in assembly are excluded from authorization.  That’s the real problem.

    If you can’t get the squares to think outside the box, get a better box: The Volunteer program for all federal land agencies is designed for individual citizens to help in particular ways as agreed… SO stand in that frame:  Adapt the standard Volunteer form to serve as a special use application with the needed points of notice, and demand an Operating Plan per 36 CFR 261.1a. 
    That’s all our Sister did in Vermont – a personal agreement just to help an OpPlan work for the gathering at Texas Falls, speaking for no one else but enabling safe cooperation with Foresters on the land.

[]      The signed Volunteer deal is made public to be understood and accountable:
it is an “individual” Agreement by definition at the top [√], with a personal commitment limited to the stated scope and protected from liability.  The key language is in Par.24 – the ‘Description of Service’, scribed for the agency as submitted: The intent is set forth concisely, and it provides for a collaborative OpPlan to authorize this assembly in precise terms.  Par.33 is amended in the cover letter to protect the volunteer’s ability to document the work  The rest is boilerplate for all kinds of volunteers, no controversy.

    When the District Ranger signed in acceptance, that Agreement took full legal effect.  For the first time in 40 years the Forest Service acknowledged a ‘Rainbow’ proposal on clear personal standing, and agreed to an OpPlan authorizing a gathering properly as an assembly of individuals. This is a breakthrough on the Regs, demonstrating a workable model for a sustainable constitutional solution.

[]      The Vermont VolApp strategy evolved from decades of gatherers’ legal struggles and aspirations for good Operating Plans & fair treatment, in lieu of bad Permits & harassment.  It is also aligned with the amended rules proposed in the CFR Petition submitted to USDA (June 2018, Sept. 2021) – which would mandate OpPlans for “public assembly” as a distinct special use, and allow attendees to cooperate safely as volunteers.  This model has been examined and supported by seasoned gatherers & attorneys in broad discussions to date. 

    Moreover this approach is wholly mindful of Rainbow creed and gathering traditions:  Everybody is a “volunteer” for Everything to be done… working with good foresters on site care & cleanup is one of them, a proud expression of citizen stewardship on public land.  The only hazard is ‘Drainbow’ politics – the blind opinions & factional flak that always show up, and are doing so again.  This stuff needs to be talked about and understood… to make any real momentum, people must be informed on what’s real.

[]      Ultimately the Regs still have to be changed… as long as they are in-place, they can and will be misused against the gatherings.  The Fed bureaucrats in DC have ineptly dumped our Petition twice, but it still lays out optimal provisions for the future, meeting fair regulatory purposes and constitutional tests in the public interest.  That campaign has to be renewed and pursued creatively, knowing its strengths:

     The VolApp move in Vermont took a strong ethical and legal position:  It showed good faith with true public interests in the woods, and local Foresters affirmed that this works OK for them.  it also put them on a spot… if this proposal were Denied, it would set up a solid court challenge against the Regs “as-applied” in restricting speech – the ideal favored position in 1st Amendment law, still available on this path.

        All in all, a most instructive initiative on all sides…
        will see what happens next time if folks do it right.
        ____________________________________

        Respectfully,
                                __scottie addison, Rapporteur____
                                   St. Louis, Missouri

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FS Regs Project | Regress Report

16 April 2022 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
_//\___________________________________________an Association of Volunteers__/
             1 April 2022                                     ~ PUBLIC INFO WITH ATTITUDE ~

        FS Regs Project | Regress Report

    This is an update with the lowdown on the Petition to Amend the Forest Service ‘Group Use’ regulations, submitted to the USDA in September 2021, and announced by this Public Info post:    FS Regs Petition | Revival in DC  (9/20/21)

    The next news went out two months later – a brief account of a virtual meeting with USFS staff from the Chief’s Office, and a wry retort to the needless hysteria roused on the backside:    Secret Meeting Report [an oxymoron]    (11/20/2021)

    Then things got real slow… it seemed the process was moving at government’s typical tortoise pace, but it just hopped backwards like a scared hare.  This report recaps the early business, where it has come, and points to what is to be done:::

\__Getting a Meeting____

        In September as the Petition was presented to the USDA Office of Natural Resources & Environment, we requested a meeting with Dep. UnderSecretary Meryl Harrell and NRE staff – to answer any questions and discuss how they would proceed in reviewing and advancing the rule proposal.  The full package was also provided in digital format, and with a summary email listing the documents with live links, to make it easy to circulate the materials to concerned staff.  We reasonably expected to meet in a few weeks, giving them time to scope it out – routine courteous business to get the project on track.  It took 2 months instead:

        A virtual meeting was finally convened on 11/16/2021… our able contributors talked about the dark history of the ‘Group Use’ Regs, sharing earnest concerns and compelling needs to change them.  Then we were shocked to learn that the Feds across the table had not even read the Petition, and were totally unprepared to discuss the issues or the course of the rulemaking.  Moreover all of them (except the LEO!) were mid-level officials in the FS Chief’s office – no one showed up from NRE, where the Petition was properly submitted and USDA regulatory decisions are made. The real business did not get done.

        A second ‘NRE Meeting Request’ was filed immediately, to follow up fast by early December and get the right people there.  No response, as weeks went by… calls went to voicemail, emails into the blue, not hearing back – but then a stern inquiry at the Secretary’s office and a few genial personal conversations with FS attendees got some action. It took 3-1/2 months more:

\__Following Through____

        On 3/1/2022 we met with the same group of FS honchos, led by Deputy Chief Chris French, who explained that they had been assigned the initial review of the rule proposal, and would send recommendations to the UnderSecretary. He said he had seen the Petition, but showed no cognizance of its content – instead posturing on the agency’s conundrum (“Should we do this?”) in light of the legal grounds, policy effects & admin burdens in taking such action – inviting answers and another conference in 2 weeks.

        Of course this was just generic bureau-speak about their job on any proposed rule, and the broad questions they are obliged to  consider.  And in fact all these concerns were fully anticipated and addressed in the Petition, the answers were on the table, unheeded – however we put in a good prospectus letter in response before meeting again.  It took 3 weeks instead:

                • Letter | Plan for the Group Use Rule Proposal  (3/20/2022)

        On 3/22/2022 the next Zoom convened, and French announced that they had already sent recommendations upstairs to NRE, before receiving our input.  He would not disclose what they said, complained of Agency workloads and admonished that few such rule petitions go anywhere; this time other attending staff did not speak.  He then kept postulating that “Rainbow” really seems like an organization (?!), contributors ‘took de bait’, and debate on this delusion wasted our time until the meeting closed.  It blew a half hour.

        Now there is a Problem: The Feds’ preliminary review of the proposal had taken six months… it was ineptly delayed and diverted, never reached the substance of the plan, and it looks like the evaluation is a hack job.  We acted quickly, submitting a Freedom of Information Request to the USDA Office of Information Affairs, seeking transparency on these proceedings.  It only took 2 days:

                • FOIA | Proceedings on CFR Petition per 5 U.S.C. §553(e)  (3/24/2022)

\__Busting the Stonewall____

        It’s unclear why the review & meetings were delegated to the FS Chief’s office or put under French:  It’s noteworthy that he was briefly the Acting Dep. UnderSecretary at NRE last year (Jan.-May ’21), placed in that job by Trump’s AgSec Sonny Perdue – ostensibly for the ‘transition’, until Biden appointees came in.  This smells of his mentors’ politics… he should have known the ropes, but seemed clueless on the rulemaking process – OR he knew exactly how to do nothing.  Six months behind the curve, or maybe 40 years.

        At this critical juncture, the Regs Petition is at-risk of being summarily dumped and denied the full assessments required for agency approvals – the tests it was designed to meet.  This interim is important, before a decision is made at NRE… responsible officials need to know the public stakes, and that the public is watching.  Tell them to proceed on the Group USE rulemaking, and give the proposal fair and competent review on the merits.  Call and write this week, immediately if not sooner:

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture:            (202) 720-3631

Meryl Harrell, Deputy Under Secretary:            (202) 720-7173
-– Natural Resources & Environment, USDA      eM:  Meryl.Harrell@usda.gov
1400 Independence Ave. SW – Suite 202-W
Washington, DC 20250

        It is also a good time for outreach to Congress & Rights Allies…
        we have good tools and help for this, inquiries welcome.

        Respects,
                        __scottie addison____
                        Coordinator & Scribe

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Regs Hipstory Video OnLine

9 February 2022 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
    _//\_____________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

                       8 Feb. 2022

        Regs Hipstory Video OnLine

        This PUBLIC INFO ZOOM EVENT was duly announced, and it happened:

    The USFS Permit Regs Standoff – 40 Years of Fights for the Right to Gather
            Part I:  “Hipstories from the Hills & Courts” 
            Wed. January 19, 2022 – 9 PM (et) / 6 PM (pt)

The seminar went well and got bigger… a great crew of crusty peace warriors shared fables of battles for the Gatherings and the Constitution – going back further to cover 50 Years of Fights, coming down deeper to the challenge in these times.

        Good News:  If you missed the live show, the Video is now preserved and available on YouTube:

    1st Amendment Saga of the Rainbow Gatherings – Zoom Seminar I
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5tBazTXJA

The Video post is backed up by this Webpage on the ‘Free-Assembly.org’ site – featuring the Program info and links to all the cool historic ‘screen-share’ documents & images displayed with the discussion (+ a few more):

    FS Regs Hipstory ~ Zoom Seminars ’22
        https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/hiptomes/regzooms-22/

        This is a valuable documentary piece, and a worthy contribution to the archives – fusing stories from folks who were There through decades of rights-work.  The hope is to inform the public widely on this historic ‘1st Amendment Saga’, and to join generations of stakeholders & citizens in understanding what is at stake, and the important next steps.

        Zoom coming soon…
            Part II:  “The Regs Petition Strategy & the 50-Year Rainbow Win”
             Wed. February 23, 2022 – 9 PM (et) / 6 PM (pt)

        Stay ‘tooned…

                scottie a., Instigator

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Secret Meeting Report (an oxymoron)

21 November 2021 Posted by admin

       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
       _//\__________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

                       20 Nov. 2021

                Secret Meeting Report (an oxymoron)

        So… last week ugly rumors were going around that somebody was planning a dark secret elitist meeting with the Feds, at great peril to the Family… I was the named culprit, of course, and know who started the hysteria on Facebutt.

        Yes… a meeting WAS planned:  When the FS Regs Petition was submitted in September, we also requested a virtual meeting with USDA officials, to talk about the proposal and find out how the review process will be handled.

        OK… the ballyhooed and boo-hooed “secret meeting” with Fed honchos Happened, sort of – after delays in DC, on 11/16/21 a few reputable contributors & observers joined a Zoom conference with delegated Forest Service staff.

This to report:  Not Much.  Basically, this meeting got kicked downstairs at USDA.  The original Request went to the Office of Natural Resources & Environment, and the Deputy UnderSecretary in charge, because that’s where the Petition was presented and rulemaking decisions are made.  However no one attended from that office; the task befell some mid-level people in the FS Chief’s office, and they were unprepared:  None had read the Petition delivered 2 months ago… they had no feet in the main topic. 

        So the discussion did not reach key elements of the proposal, or plans for the rulemaking process.  I had to inform them of their own departmental rules.  A Forest Service LEO also showed up, so I told them: Cops Don’t Make Policy.

        A keen observer reflected:

“Pearls of wisdom cast.   Total lack of awareness from the experts. Bureaucrats at the lowest rung hung out for bait……that leo was there to protect the clerks. No surprise from the old assertion that the feds are still hanging on to the unincorporated association label. Back into the time warp. Thanks for the shot.  It will be a cold day in hell when we can sit across a table and make the points that are rooted in Constitutional Assembly.”

        It wasn’t THAT bad… we impressed upon them the heinous burdens of these regulations, and the constitutional and practical imperatives to change them.  Contributors had salient comments on the bad history & legal fallacies to date, the workings of Operating Plans, the need to restore cooperation, and the prospect of simple policy changes helping good foresters.  I made a proselytic point about peaceable assembly as a personal right – citing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 20:

       (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
       (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.        [Petition, p.17]

        So, we kinda DID “sit across a table and make the points…” – and it wasn’t very cold.
        This effort made some progress.

        The upshot: A new Request went in fast for a followup Meeting – with the right people, properly prepared, ASAP.
        Hopefully then we can report real info – how the rule review will proceed, when & where public comments will be called for, and what lessons in grassroots civics we are learning

        Meanwhile – it’s time to scope out opportunities for outreach to Congress & Rights Allies…
            inquiries welcome, stay ‘tooned…

                    _scottie addison__
                    Coordinator & Instigator


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FS Regs Petition | Revival in DC

21 September 2021 Posted by admin


       PCU  //\  Free Assembly Project    /
       St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
      _//\__________________________an Association of Volunteers__/

            20 September 2021        ~ PUBLIC INFO RELEASE ~

            FS Regs Petition | Revival in DC

        In June 2018 PCU•FAP presented a formal “Petition to Amend a National Forest Regulation“ to the Dept. of Agriculture, under provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.  It got no response for 17 months, then was curtly dismissed with no real consideration – so the USFS ‘Noncommercial Group Use’ permit regulations that have afflicted the Rainbow Gatherings for 25 years remain in effect, the problems persist and still demand a real solution.

[]>  That Petition has just been resubmitted to the new USDA & Forest Service leadership, with a new cover letter calling for their “…conscientious review and proper proceedings, as APA & Agency rules require.”   The full package is outlined in the Summary below, with direct links to the documents conveyed (PDF format) – in full disclosure, as always.

• The Core Dilemma:  The current ‘Group Use’ rules are unconstitutional, where citizens who assemble cooperatively with no ‘Group’ affiliation or legal entity are precluded from authorization in the National Forest:  Gathering as individuals and equals on public land, they have no ad hoc agent capacities and cannot lawfully sign permits or anything on behalf of others… to do so would be fraud.
    As a result of these applied policies, some good people have been jailed, many hundreds prosecuted, and thousands intimidated and chilled in First Amendment exercise.  Early legal fights failed for various bad reasons, then strategic wins in West Virginia, Colorado, and New Mexico exposed the flaws in the Regs – but these unprecedented issues are still left unresolved in the courts.

• What the Petition Does:  This rulemaking proposal would revise the regulations at 36 CFR 251.50, et seq. – to legalize ‘Public Assembly’ as a special use, and allow fair authorization by Operating Plan.  It takes decisive action on decades of aspirations and the “Change-the-Regs” parleys joined by stakeholders (c. 2003-08) – which were brought to the USDA UnderSecretary back then, resumed some years later, but never carried through. 
    This is the proper affirmative approach, and the right thing to do:  It proceeds under the ‘Right to Petition’ reserved under the Administrative Procedure Act, requiring federal agencies to receive and review such proposals on the merits, with a transparent process.  This is a viable path to legal remedies, apart from the courts.

• Caveat & Strategic Coup:  The Petition is a *formal* proposal to amend the Code of Federal Regulations – technical in construction & content as required, 27 pp.  Each of 5 Parts has a purpose in stating the precise changes, compelling need, legal grounds, and workable means, with 6 surgical Exhibits in support.  It’s a serious work product, made to do a hard job and change a bad law – no shortcuts.
    Then realize that if gatherers won the big definitive court case, the Regs would not just go away… they would be revised to ensure the right and ability of citizens to gather lawfully, so just cut to the chase:  Write them Right, mandating OpPlans in lieu of permits for true public assemblies, to enable cooperation, meet high special use standards and work sustainably under the Constitution & on the Land.
    A generation of gatherers hoped and fought for this fair rule… this initiative is a direct action to Get It.

        The story and logic of the project are outlined on this webpage, with direct PDF links to all the documents:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/campaigns/amend-regs/
The discussion goes to the Petition’s scope & legal grounds, how Operating Plans work as an alternative means of special use regulation, and the sensitive but necessary role of “volunteers” in the process.  The proposal is mindful of the proper duties of responsible Foresters, aligned with their valid administrative concerns – and the Memorandum on Group Use Policies (Part  IV, pg.9) builds upon the best legal briefs in related court cases since 1996.

        As noted, these issues have a history with the Office of Natural Resources & Environment, USDA… PCU•FAP  has made a strong record of policy critiques with Under Secretary Mark Rey and his successor in recent years:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/gather/campaigns/rey-critcorr02-08/
This gives leverage to the renewed Regs Petition… they have been told before, and real remedies are overdue.

        Reality Check:  Nothing happens if nobody shows up… public-interest politics runs on public support.  A New Campaign has to roll out in the coming months; for now, get the new ‘Public Petition’ here, with instructions, batteries not included:
            https://www.free-assembly.org/libtree/pub-petition/
Look for further info on where good letters can go, and plans for outreach to media, organizations, and Congress.

        Cooperation will be needed, the mission is time-sensitive, to be fulfilled by Summer 2022:
The Vision is for the 50th Anniversary Rainbow Gathering in Colorado to convene lawfully with an OpPlan under new Regs as proposed – achieving a decisive Win for the Right to Gather, and for the First Amendment on all public lands.

        This is what democracy looks like… use it or lose it.

                Onward,

                                scottie addison, Coordinator
                                St. Louis, Missouri

Petition Package SUMMARY:

• Renewed Petition for CFR Amendment (9/12/2021)

~ Conveyance letter, resubmitting therulemaking proposal  (2 pp.)

    + Attachments:
    ~ Prior Corr with USDA – 6/19 Demand, 11/19 Denial)  (3 pp.)

•Petition to Amend the ‘Group Use’ Rules (June 2018)

    ~ Original Petition as presented to USDA, in 5 Parts  (27 pp.)

    List of Exhibits:
    ~ 6 select Documents, Exhibits ‘A’-‘F’ in support  (43 pp. total)

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