/\_It's Only Yer Hyde
[ Copies of the full Petition+ Package go to Henry Hyde of IL, ]
[ House Judiciary Chair -- calling for renewed action by that ]
[ Congressional Committee to uphold Constitutional Rights. ]
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PCU_//\_Free Assembly Project
PO Box 5852 - Washington, DC 20016 {VM: 312-409-0018}
29 September 1997
Hon. Henry J. Hyde, Chair
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Attn: ** Kathryn Hazeem Lehman, Chief Counsel
Constitution Subcommittee
H2--362 Ford Bldg * Washington, DC 20515
Re: 'Group Use' Rules: 36 CFR §251,261
Presenting Petitions for Repeal
Congressman Hyde & the Committee:
Four years ago PCU Volunteers brought an urgent message to Congress
members, and then carried it on to select Committees to invoke their
oversight and intervention. We acted in response to the Forest Service
'Group Use' rulemaking then proposed --
-- crafted from the outset to target consensual gatherings in the National
Forests, incriminate Citizens in First Amendment exercise, and cut in under
the radar of the civil liberties community... isolating a small minority
until sweeping powers were entrenched.
As Chair of the "Civil & Constitutional Rights Subcommittee" in
1993, Rep. Don Edwards saw the dangers of this rulemaking and sent a candid
critique to former Agriculture Secretary Espy; his 11/1/93 letter is
attached for your reference...
It was helpful in letting the Rulemakers know that Congress was watchful,
and in delaying publication of the final rules -- but it was not enough to
stop the Big Wheels of the Bureaucracy: On "Black Friday" 29 September
'95, the rules were finally enacted.
As we pass the 2nd Anniversary of that day, the predicted impacts
are plainly evident, and the implications are impossible to ignore...
...civil & criminal sanctions by the Government against peaceful people;
...chilling & provocative "proactive enforcement" against 1st Amendment events;
...selective police roadblocks, stops, & seizures under color of law;
...agency fraud & coercion to force permits to be signed and rights to be
waived.
>From the attached info, you can see the new court cases & broad
Constitutional issues that have emerged already. The longer this goes on,
the worse it will get.
We are renewing our appeals with a new urgency: We call upon
responsible Officials in Congress and the Administration to take
responsibility for the 'Group Use' policies.
* A report is going in to the Senate Agriculture & Judiciary Committees,
documenting facts of the suspicious "Fire at the Wyoming Gathering" in July
'94.
* A new package of Petitions, Letters, & Declarations is being presented to
Agriculture Secretary Glickman, pursuant to 5 USC §553(e)[1], calling for
repeal of the rules.
* And, a copy of this full package is now submitted to the House Judiciary
Committee, reiterating our appeal for Public Hearings on the strong record
we have made.
Mr. Chairman -- This is a nonpartisan Constitutional issue.
We ask your energetic leadership in joint Committee actions to redirect
policies on Public Land & Rights.
Respectfully submitted,
PCU Volunteers: Scott C. Addison
Judith A. Schienhaus
Susan T. Malkove
Redmoonsong
Attmts:
* Ltr, List, & Petitions to Sec. Glickman
* Const'l Alert * Legal Update/se97
* Hse Jud'y Ltr, no93 * LLUR Summary
* Senators' Ltr, my94 * Pressclips
CC:
Cong. C. Canady, B. Frank, J. Conyers
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