The U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to reduce fines and drop criminal liability charges filed Monday against more than 50 people attending the annual Rainbow Family gathering in the Santa Fe National Forest near Cuba, N.M., according to one of the pro bono attorneys representing the defendants. Since June 14, Forest Service law-enforcement officers reported 320 incidents at the Rainbow gathering, including seven arrests and 120 notices of violation for offenses ranging from drug possession to not wearing seat belts, according to Forest Service spokesman Lawrence Lujan. The rest were warnings. Some of the people arrested were local residents from nearby communities, however, and not Rainbow gatherers, according to Albuquerque attorney John McCall, who represented some of the defendants. "We had some local ranchers who were driving their trucks, chasing down their cows, an open (alcohol) container between their knees and not wearing their seat belts," McCall said. An estimated 1,500 people were already camped in the Parque Venado east of Cuba by Monday afternoon, with more arriving daily. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people are expected for the main Rainbow Family gathering July 1-7...NewMexican The Forest Service has rules against open containers, not using seat belts, and riding in the back of a truck? I thought maybe these federal employees were cross-commisioned, but the charges were handled in federal magistrate court by the U.S. Attorney, so they must be federal infractions.
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