Thanks for your summary of the trial. I've emailed Bill to offer
whatever support we can muster here in Philadelphia if they want to
appeal. From what you posted, it seems you're not sure this is the case
that ought to be appealed, because the defense lawyers didn't get enough
evidence into the record of the event as a "free assembly" rather than a
"group use."
We have to appeal sometime, and there are several reasons to still
consider this case. Off the top of my head:
1) The number of cases against the RF is adding up. We have to go into
appeals soon, or give up the entire court strategy.
2) The ACLU here is a good crew. They're already interested. And
they're the ones that won the finding against the Exxon internet
censorship bill.
3) The Federal District Court here in Philadelphia may be one of the
most sympathetic courts to 1st amendment issues.
4) The Rainbow Family here in Philadelphia will probably make a good
showing, and we can provide places for people to stay, logistical
support, etc. On the other hand, we're not very well plugged into the
national scene. It's kind of a backwater in Rainbow land.
If you have any plans of ever passing through this area, please plan to
stop by for a couple of days, and we can talk this over. In the
meantime, let's keep in touch.
-- Kirk Wattles <kwattles@mindspring.com> http://www.mindspring.com/~kwattles/