PCU // Freedom of Assembly Project ............... Fall 1994 /\_WACO...THE_POLICY_ [ The Authoritarian Hand on Public Land -- ] [ Forest Service Rulemaking and the Cult of Power ] \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ /\_WACO...THE_POLICY_ The Forest Service has proposed two new regulations -- one that would change freedom of assembly and expression into a crime, punishable by fine and/or imprisonment; another that would create a National Police apparatus with sweeping powers over citizen access and activities on public land. These measures are presented as routine administrative rulemakings, but they tell a bigger story about government power. For twenty-two years the Rainbow Family of Living Light has gathered annually in a National Forest, in numbers from 14,000 to 30,000, expressly for "...celebration of their bond with the earth and to pray for world peace and healing." ('Rainbow Gathering 1992', USFS Report, pg. 1) Every year the Forest Service does a report on the Gathering. Every report relates that the Gathering caused no problems, and that the land was left as good, if not better, than it was in the beginning. The proposed regulations would render this harmless religious observance a "crime", and legitimize the kinds of severe enforcement measures that have been imposed, beyond the pale of the law, for years. Some folks think the problem is just a few wild bureaucrats who've run amok. Others think the problem is that government thrives on power: Power corrupts, the more power government has, the more it wants, and that these regulations are the "logical" extension of the government's continuing drive for power. What hasn't the government already regulated? What valid interest can the government possibly have to regulate freedom of thought and assembly? The 'Wild Bureaucrat Theory' relies on the courts to halt desecration of the First and Fourth Amendments. 'Power-Hungry Government' theorists fervently pray the courts WILL squash the regulation, but think that even if such rules are -- once again -- struck down the Feds will soon be back -- same regulation, slightly different words -- until they finally get some court to agree that permits are "Law," and, therefore, people without permits are "Lawbreakers." What about the Waco Massacre? For fifty one days the FBI arrested any media person who came within two miles. Each morning Special FBI Agent Bob Ricks held a press conference to assure the world that David Koresh was irrational. The FBI blasted the Koresh people with amazing stereo equipment and flooded them with blazing lights. Then, fearing the bright lights and loud music might cause psychological damage to "the children," the FBI rammed main battle tanks into the Koresh compound "poking holes" and spraying "non-flammable" teargas inside. "The next logical step." Agent Ricks said. Coincidentally -- Agent Ricks, Attorney General Reno, and President Clinton tell us -- the Koresh people chose that moment to commit suicide by setting their house on fire. Recently we've seen a video, entitled "The Big Lie." Among other disturbing scenes is one showing that one of the tanks "poking holes in the wall" was actually equipped with a flamethrowing device, and was throwing flame into the Davidian compound. Interesting how neatly the government fit into koresh's visions of a fiery apocalypse. Imagine, the "Rainbow Gathering" becomes a "crime," but the People gather anyway. Given an outlaw Gathering, what's poor Uncle Sam supposed to do? THE most economical solution might be to just surround the Gathering with a chain-link fence. The prohibitions defined by these CFR regulations, called "citation offenses," provide that when an agent accuses a person of a violation, the accused may post a $50 bond. Anybody who wanted to get past the Rainbow fence could just put up 50 bucks and make it back to Babylon. To facilitate "due process" the Feds could just bring a gigantic TV screen down to the Main Circle, set up two-way video and audio equipment, and offer to hold court -- like those closed circuit courts they've already got going in Florida and some other places... ...Anybody who wanted could go to the video court and plead the First Amendment, or try to cut a deal with the magistrate for an intermediate sentence, trade time served for community service, or something. On the other extreme, anybody who wanted to hang out for six months could just hang tight, The Federales could send in supplies. After six months, sooner if they want, they could take down the fence and everybody could go their way. Of course, at smaller gatherings, a hundred or so folks, the Feds might think it was more economical just to round everybody up and farm them out to surrounding county jails. Sound a bit farfetched? It should, because the regulations are farfetched. After all, the practical effect of the regulations is to criminalize an assemblage of thousands of people. Enforcing such sweeping regulations will require farfetched methods. When the government goes to the extreme lengths that it has gone to in enacting these regulations, one must assume that the government intends to enforce the regulations. Chain link enclosures were used at Guantanamo, to corral unwanted Haitians and Cubans, it's a lot more efficient and requires far fewer man hours than trying to contain a gathering of twenty thousand or so with tactical cops. The video court might sound kafkaesque, but they're already in use on a limited scale. This country thinks nothing of spending millions on show trials, it bolsters the image of a country ruled by law. Sure, the feds could just throw up an enclosure and declare it an emergency zone, or whatever, but a giant video screen measuring out justice is such a "civilized" touch. After Waco, one of the first things U.S. Attorney Reno suggested was looking at new laws and regulations to control "cults." Of course, Ms. Reno wasn't thinking about the emergence of the Cult of Power that has arisen in the backwash of the military industrial complex... a Cult of Power which relies -- like Hitler, Stalin and other notable people with a "solution" -- on the kneejerk paranoia engendered by the incantation "national security; a Cult whose high ranking officials have publicly lamented that, since the end of the Cold War, "the War on Drugs is the only war we have." In light of Haiti, Somolia, Bosnia, Iraq, etc., some might trifle with that notion. However, the fact remains that by more than doubling its prison population in last decade, the United States now imprisons a larger portion of its population than any nation on earth. It doesn't take an astrophysicist to realize that the "security" business is enjoying a ballyhooed boom in the old U.S. of A. Waco was a "proactive" enforcement approach. So are these rules: They would allow government agents to speculate on 'possible' violations, they lean on vague criteria to deny citizen access, control "public behavior", and limit free expression on public land. In effect, it would be 'legal' to do what is blatantly unconstitutional -- acting in "prior restraint" upon protected rights. This is the heart of the "proactive enforcement" vogue. Thought needs to be focused on a broad unified opposition. If the problem comes from a few wild bureaucrats, it can be easily solved by firing them. On the other hand, if government is the problem, perhaps the only solution is to change government. In service to understanding, <<>> D.C. Scribe <<>> PCU // Freedom of Assembly Project /\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\ For further information, contact... <<>> PEOPLE FOR COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING <<>> PO Box 27217 PO Box 6625 Washington, DC 20038 Chicago, IL 60680 202-462-0757, -265-5389(F) Hotline: 312-409-0018 (prop1@ uujobs.com) (scott_addison@alphabets.com) * Autumn 1994 *