The customary ‘Spring Council’ convened in early June, and scouts were considering 3 possible gathering sites in VA, SC, & GA. There were stubborn advocates for the Georgia site, and FS reps from there made genial-sounding offers of an Operating Plan — so the choice was made for Chattahoochee N.F., and folks headed that way for seed camp.
The doublecross was apparent right away, as pilgrims encountered road & parking closures all around the site, and key area closures constrained the set-up — now held hostage by demands for a signed ‘Group Use’ permit. Intensive interagency roadblocks & gauntlets went up over the first weekend of June 16-17, with FS-LEO’s, Georgia State Police, and Lumpkin County Sheriffs in close cahoots. The pretextual stops were aggressive, the phony searches on fabricated ‘probable cause’ were brutal, and a high percentage of early attendees were hit with federal citations with mandatory court appearances, or landed in county jail on petty violations.
The Rainbow Gatherings have endured all kinds of harassment and dirty tricks over the years, but now USFS ‘Incident Command’ was blatantly resuming the same targeted roadblocks that we fought and were found unconstitutional 20 years ago… deja vu all over again.
•• Making a Federal Case…
PCU•Free Assembly Project went to work informing Georgia attorneys and seeking representation to get a new civil rights lawsuit underway… we found an able and ready man, gave him research and pleadings from the prior successful cases, coordinated with victims on-site, and got a complaint and TRO motion filed on the night of July 2.
The next day we got a little Injunction, by Order of the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia:
⇒ Hadaway, Beck & Buxbaum v. Tooke … Case No. 2:18-cv-107-RWS
(see the filings & details on ^this page)
Here is the ‘Public Information’ report on this action, posted widely in late July:
[] The July 3 Injunction (7/27/2018)
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Soon after the ‘Hadaway’ case won this opening victory, there was a debate on its fate among parties and attorneys involved: A walk-on plaintiff wary of Georgia judges wanted to drop it and take our “little Win” down the road.
We urgently argued that it posed clear benefits and no imminent risk, and should be refined and sustained at least through Discovery… in July-August we advanced various points of legal analysis to back up this position, from hard experience.
Here is a summary of those arguments compiled from prior posts — all on the table as the critical decision loomed:
[] Hadaway, the Hard Logic (8/28/2018)
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Efforts to reassure the players and avert this outcome were foiled by cross-purposes, and stubborn evasions escalated into personal attacks. On August 30 the attorney filed a ‘Voluntary Dismissal’; the next day the Court closed the case — letting the LEO’s off the hook, again.
Here is the difficult report on this debacle, and how it happened:
[] The July 7 Sellout (9/27/2018)
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•• Covering the County Flank…
With many Rainbows still in jail, local supporters in Dahlonega organized a protest rally across from the Lumpkin County jail on Sunday, July 8 — while 2 conscientious young Atlanta lawyers were inside, interviewing inmates and getting the facts. They have worked to secure the release of detainees on victimless charges, and to provide fair representation.
Get the story on the gathering-related legal defenses in Georgia:
⇒ Chattahoochee Defenses … State & Federal court cases & info
This information will be developed in the coming weeks, as the facts are pulled together and active defenses get rolling. Allied attorneys have been to the Lumpkin County jail, interviewing ‘Rainbow’ inmates, getting most out by now, and assessing their circumstances & defenses.
Attorney Catherine Bernard is taking the lead on the defenses. She heads the ‘Spartacus Legal Foundation’ and has set up a Rainbow Defense Fund under its auspices… she is the real deal, and so is this fund… check out her stalwart blog statement too:::
http://www.spartacuslegal.org/donate/rainbow-family-of-living-light-fund/
http://www.spartacuslegal.org/blog/a-call-to-those-who-value-justice-over-a-corrupt-justus-system/
Badjer goes to the Circle, One Last Time…
Peace in the Skies, Charles Winslow.
From ‘The Dahlonega Nugget’, 7/11/2018:
