Rainbow Defense

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4128807

Denver Post
Thursday, August 03, 2006

Rainbow Family fines, cases settled

By Steve Lipsher
Denver Post Staff Writer

About 100 people cited for petty offenses while attending the Rainbow Family gathering near Steamboat Springs last month had their fines paid by an unnamed benefactor and their court records cleared.

An attorney for several participants who had been ticketed himself called the federal-court settlement a legal victory, but a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Denver said the group of Rainbows received the same deal as others who previously pleaded guilty.

Those cited were ordered to pay $15 in fines and $25 in court fees to resolve their cases even though they never showed up for court, and someone identified as "a local philanthropist" paid the bills, according to officials.

"The fact that the U.S. attorney did not want to prosecute any of these cases shows how frivolous the charges were to begin with," said Don Wirtshafter, an attorney from Ohio who received court permission to practice in Colorado to represent fellow participants.

But Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, termed that description a mischaracterization, saying that each of the defendants in essence pleaded guilty to the minor citations as part of the collateral forfeiture, regardless of who paid.

"There is nothing different or unusual about this," Dorschner said.

Offenses, including drug charges and interference with law enforcement, were not included in the settlement, both sides reported.

The annual Rainbow gathering, a fortnight-long counterculture bacchanal that this year took place in the Routt National Forest's Big Red Park, attracted as many as 15,000 modern-day hippies.

Law-enforcement officials issued more than 500 citations, the majority for "illegal use and occupancy," a legal catch-all based on the fact that the leaderless group never obtained a special-use permit to gather in large numbers.

"It's clear that (the) incident command's intention was simply to harass and intimidate legitimate forest users and chill the momentum of the growing Rainbow Family," Wirtshafter said.

Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.