THOMAS v. REAGAN
USDC Cr. No. 84-3552
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
WILLIAM THOMAS,
1440 N St. NW #410, DC,
representing himself,
WHITE HOUSE ANTINUCLEAR VIGIL,
HOMELESS ADVISORY COUNSEL, and
PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES*
and
ELLEN THOMAS,
representing herself and
PEACE PARK ANTINUCLEAR VIGIL
(formerly CO-PEACE, INT'L),
and
ROBERT DORROUGH
and
CHARLES HYDER, Ph.D.,
Plaintiffs,
versus CA 84-3552
Judge Louis Oberdorfer
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
by and through certain of its Magistrate Arthur Burnett
REGULATORY AGENCIES,
to wit: JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
WHITE HOUSE,
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR,
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE,
UNITED STATES PARK POLICE,
UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE,
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT,
and
DC METROPOLITAN POLICE,
Defendants
AMENDED RESTATEMENT OF CLAIM
JURISDICTION
"Jurisdiction of this Court is attained pursuant to the
First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth [and Fourteenth] Amendments to
the United States Consitution; 28 USC 1331(a), 1343(3), 1343(4),
2201, 2202; Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 US 388 (1971);
and 42 USC 1983, 1985(2), 1985(3), ... 18 USC Sections 2381, 2384,
[and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights]." (Complaint para.
1, p. 4; see also Amended Complaint, filed October 16, 1985;
Clarification of Complaint, filed May 14, 1985, as well as the
Statement of Claim filed April 22, 1986. [] brackets added.)
PARTIES
PLAINTIFFS
a. William Thomas, philosopher;
b. The White House Antinuclear Vigil, two individuals
who, to the best of their ability, have dedicated themselves to
seeking "Reason, Sanity, and an End to War" at the gates of the
White House. William Thomas ("Thomas") began the vigil on June 3,
1981 to communicate his opinions and beliefs that nuclear weapons
are a manifestation of the destructive, evil, and unwise
application of knowledge, the lust for power, and extreme paranoia.
Concepcion Picciotto, who had previously been engaged in a campaign
for personal "Freedom and Justice," joined her energies to communi-
cating certain opinions and beliefs similar to Thomas' on June 18,
1982. Together Concepcion and Thomas have labored to symbolize
commitment, consistency, "Freedom, Justice, Reason, Sanity, and
Non-violence as an End to War."
c. Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil, an outgrowth of
Co-Peace International, founded on April 13, 1984 (originally named
"Strike for Peace") as a vehicle through which Thomas and Ellen
Thomas, and other like-minded individuals, could communicate their
message: "Unless humanity learns to work together, humanity will
die together." Co-Peace Int'l, a community and worldwide outreach
vehicle for peace workers, complements the historical quality of
the five-plus-years-old White House Antinuclear Vigil, and has
established its own "Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil" in Lafayette
Park as its symbolic public statement of purpose.
d. The Homeless Advisory Council (HAC), chartered on
December 18, 1984, by Thomas and Ellen Thomas as a vehicle through
which to assist the many homeless people who gravitate to Lafayette
Park, operating on the principle that "It is better to teach a
person to communicate than to give a person a fish."
e. Ellen Thomas, an individual committed to
communicating as effectively as possible on issues of world peace,
revision of nuclear weapons and power policies, and the need for
social activism to correct the problems of poverty, alienation, and
violence which assail humanity (supra para. 3 (c) and (d)). (See
Declaration of Ellen Thomas filed this date, Trial Exhibit 146(f).)
f. Robert Dorrough, an individual who wants to help con-
struct a safer, more harmonious environment. Believing the first
step toward that end to be a meeting of minds, Mr. Dorrough has
spent a great deal of his time in front of the White House
communicating beliefs and opinions. (See Declaration of Robert
Dorrough filed this date, Trial Exhibit 146(e).)
g. Dr. Charles Hyder, an individual who had spent many
years endeavoring to construct a safer, more harmonious environment
for all living beings within the confines of his capacities.Having
concluded that constructive harmony is best facilitated on an
individual level, free of the vested-self interests which arise
within the confines of structured organizations, Dr. Hyder decided
to devote his life to motivating U.S. citizens to nonviolent
action, and he has chosen Lafayette Park as his forum. (See
Declaration of Charles Hyder, Ph.D., filed this date, Tr.Ex. 178.)
h. The named plaintiffs represent a class of individuals
who (a) strive to devote the entirety of their lives to
"demonstrating" (as defined by 36 CFR 50.19(a)(1)) in a traditional
free speech forum, at the steps of the seat of power, their
individual moral or religious convictions that it is better to
suffer personal inconvenience and discomfort rather than to
contribute to any organization which would cause the destruction of
humanity or civilizaton in order to insure the comfort and
convenience of that organization's members; who (b) are limited in
their financial resources; and who (c) are opposed to the polices
of the government in power.
"People of the United States are joined ... in their official
capacity as citizens of the United States, by virtue of the fact
that when a government seeks to deny one individual of civil rights
under color of regulation, then all citizens are deprived of those
same rights pursuant to that same regulation." (Complaint para.
5.)
DEFENDANTS
In addition to the above-named agency defendants, the
individual defendants are named again as follows:
a. Robert Bedell, Acting Administrator, OMB White House
b. Donald F. Hodel Secretary, Department of Interior
c. William P. Clark Ex-Secretary, Department of Interior
d. James Watt Ex-Secretary, Department of Interior
e. Richard Robbins Assistant Solicitor, Department of Interior
f. Patricia Bangert, Assistant Solicitor, Department of
Interior
g. Manus J. Fish Regional Director, National Park Service
h. James McDaniel White House Liaison
i. J. C. Lindsey Ex-Deputy Chief, U.S. Park Police
j. Christopher Merillat Lieutenant, U.S. Park Police
k. Jerry Parr Special Agent, U.S. Secret Service
l. Michael Canfield Captain, D.C. Metropolitan Police
m. Joseph diGenova United States Attorney, Justice Department
n. Royce Lamberth Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
o. Craig Lawrence Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
p. John D. Bates Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
q. James Finnegan Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
r. Eric Marcy Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
s. Charles Roistacher Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
t. Theodore Shamanda Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
u. Pamela Stewart Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
v. Marc Tucker Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
w. Zenora Mitchell Asst. U.S. Attorney, Justice Department
x. ET AL. (Known but unnamed agents, identified in the
Original Complaint, filed November 21, 1984, at paragraph 16, page
6 and 7, as "mindless pawns;" these "official representative
agents" are not sued individually. Rather plaintiffs rely upon the
doctrines articulated in Glasson v. City of Louisville, 518 F2d 899
(1977) (cert. denied), and Alvarez v. Wilson, 432 F.Supp. 137
(1977), thereby assigning responsibility to the named defendants
for the actions performed by their agents. Those actions have been
itemized in plaintiffs' Clarification of Complaint, filed May 14,
1985, as well as the Statement of Claim filed April 22, 1986. (See
Orders of Judge Oberdorfer, filed June 3, 1985 and June 4, 1986.)
"All agency defendants (White House, Interior Department,
National Park Service, United States Park Police, Secret Service,
(Justice Department), D.C. Metropolitan Police) bear responsibility
for the individual actions of their component parts ("official
representatives"), just as the Government of the United States
bears ultimate responsibility for the actions perpetrated in its
name by its agencies and their representatives. Therefore,
Defendant Government of the United States is named by reason of the
oppressive burden the policies of its agents have placed upon the
People of the United States as represented in the person(s) of
plaintiff(s)." (Complaint para. 6.)
"...To save time and energy for all parties, rather than
charging all official participants for their part in depriving
plaintiffs of their civil rights, plaintiffs are allowing them to
be impeached herein by their own actions and words, and are laying
those actions and words at the feet of the agencies with which the
individual employees named herein are employed as non-defendant
official representatives." (Complaint para. 16.)
NATURE OF ACTION
"This action seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against
the manner in which the Government promulgated or enforces against
plaintiff[s] the amendments to ... ('the regulations') 36 CFR
Sections 50.27 and 36 CFR 50.19(e)(9)(10) issued by defendant Watt
and official Arnett on June 4, 1982 and June 17, 1983 respectively,
[and 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12), issued by defendant Hodel's
subordinate Mott], and enforced by all defendants. [Plaintiffs
have been arrested dozens of] times under color of 36 CFR 50.27
(prior to June 4, 1982, known as '50.5') and 36 CFR 50.19, under
color of District of Columbia Code ('DCC') regulations, [and, in
the case of Robert Dorrough, once under color of 36 CFR
50.19(e)(11)(12). Plaintiffs' signs have been confiscated under
color of 36 CFR 50.19(e)(9)(10) and (11)(12)], with the intent to
restrict rights to demonstrate on the public sidewalk in front of
the White House [and in Lafayette Park]. By promulgating and/or
enforcing the regulations and arresting plaintiff[s], defendants
have violated plaintiff[s'] First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth [and
Fourteenth] Amendment rights, 42 USC Sections 1983 and 1985(3), the
Administrative Procedure Act [and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights]." (See Complaint, filed November 21, 1984, p. 9,
para. 18; see also Amended Complaint, filed October 16, 1985;
Clarification of Complaint, filed May 14, 1985, as well as the
Statement of Claim filed April 22, 1986. [] brackets added.)
FACTS
Plaintiffs incorporate by reference the Trial Brief and
Exhibits filed this date (including Trial Exhibits 146(e),
Declaration of Robert Dorrough; 146(f), Declaration of Ellen
Thomas; 146(g), Second Declaration of William Thomas, and Trial
Exhibit 178, Declaration of Charles Hyder, Ph.D.), and add:
1. "The thrust of plaintiffs' [five] years of living
constantly [in front of the White House], exposed to the elements
of nature, a largely hostile public, mechanistic bureaucracy, and
ruthless police agencies, has been to illustrate a life of moral
integrity at the expense of the accommodations which the defendant
Government provides to those individuals willing to submit
themselves to its objects. Defendant Government has employed its
regulation writers to mute plaintiffs' message by the expedient of
defining [their] demonstration of life without accommodations as
'living accommodations,' and by defining [their] signs as
'structures.' (See USA v. Abney.)" (See Complaint para. 170.)
2. In 1981, after Thomas was arrested on several occasions,
having tried to communicate with officials to no avail, Thomas hung
himself by the wrists from a lightpost in front of the White House
to protest that fact.
3. Rather than respond, officials issued false reports to the
press, and ignored Thomas.
4. In 1982, after officials passed new camping regulations,
Thomas tried to communicate with them the fact that those regula-
tions should not be applied against him because he was involved in
expressive activity, and doing no harm.
5. He was ignored, and arrested.
6. In part to protest that injustice, and in part as an
attempt to insure that defendants had no reason to misunderstand
his purpose for being where he was, Thomas made larger signs. (See
photos Complaint p. 22, 23, 24, 28.)
7. Rather than admit to the legitimacy of Thomas' expressive
activity, and cease in their wrongful attempts to stifle it,
officials continued to order allow or condone actions having the
intent or effect of disrupting his protected activities. (See
photos Complaint p. 25, 28-51, 55.)
8. To protest that injustice he tied himself up in a tree.
9. Officials ordered his arrest, ignoring his attempts to
communicate.
10. Official actions having the intent or effect of stifling
plaintiffs' expression escalated with attempts to ban all but
hand-held signs from the White House sidewalk.
11. Although Thomas tried to communicate with officials they
ignored him.
12. When officials gave false testimony under oath before a
Court of law, Thomas protested by climbing a fence. Officials
ordered or allowed his arrest, although he had broken no law, or
violated no regulation. (See photo Complaint p. 57.)
13. Video tape in the possession of officials, which would
have proven that Thomas had violated no rules or statutes, was
destroyed.
14. In protest Thomas made a large cardboard object in the
shape of a missile. The Secret Service and Park Police said the
object was "not a violation of any law." The object remained on
the White House sidewalk for several days until certain defendants
ordered Thomas' arrest.
15. After engineering the removal of Thomas' signs from the
White House sidewalk to the Park across the street, officials
ordered or allowed the selective, and sometimes brutal, application
of inapplicable regulations with the intent or effect of stifling
plaintiffs' expressive conduct. As a result of an intensive
campaign of harassment and arrests, Robert Dorrough was discouraged
from continuing his 24-hour vigil. (See Tr. Ex. 146(e).)
16. During the five-year duration of Thomas' round-the-clock
presence police officers have been given orders to "keep people
awake." This has had the direct and proximate result of causing
plaintiffs regular threats, harassment, sleep deprivation, mental
and emotional distress, physical assaults, fear, and discomfort.
17. Rather than protest by climbing something, or making
more, or larger signs, plaintiffs responded by seeking official
understanding by writing letters, and seeking permits. (See, e.g.,
Tr. Ex. 137, 146(b)(c), 157.)
18. Officials responded by ordering or allowing the
destruction of plaintiffs' signs, or interfering with their
display.
19. Plaintiffs responded by building more signs. (See photos
Complaint p. 65, 67, 68, 70, e.g.)
20. Officials ordered or allowed the arrest of an associate,
who was causing no harm, and violating no rule. (See photo
Complaint p. 69.)
21. Plaintiffs responded by building a speaker's platform and
trying to communicate in a civilized manner. (See photos Complaint
p. 76, 77.)
22. Officials responded by pushing plaintiffs further back
into the Park, and/or ordering intensive surveillance of their
socially beneficial activities, and adding unnecessary burdens to
their efforts through unwarranted Additional Permit Conditions and
Restrictions. (See photos Complaint p. 73, 74, 75.)
23. Officials ignored plaintiffs, and sent their associate to
a mental hospital.
24. Plaintiffs continued to communicate in a civilized
manner. (See photos Complaint p. 78-81.)
25. Officials turned down the volume of plaintiffs'
loudspeaker. (See photos Complaint p. 75.)
26. Plaintiffs renewed their efforts to communicate with
officials to release their associate.
27. Officials ignored plaintiffs, and drugged him.
28. Thomas and Ellen Thomas responded by climbing a tree.
(See photos Complaint p. 83-84.)
29. Officials responded by arresting Thomas and Ellen Thomas.
30. Plaintiffs continued to communicate within the regulations.
31. Officials continued to order or allow plaintiffs'
communicative attempts to be stifled.
32. Thomas and Ellen Thomas protested this injustice by
filing this lawsuit on behalf of the White House Antinuclear Vigil,
Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil, and all individuals who wished to
nonviolently communicate issues of broad public concern in front of
the White House.
33. On or about May 9, 1985 plaintiffs' NPS-permitted
speaker's platform was confiscated for the final time, and Ellen
Thomas was arrested under color of "disorderly conduct" for
protesting the confiscation.
34. On June 8, 1985, plaintiffs' banner was confiscated,
without probable cause, on the White House sidewalk.
35. On or about November 18, 1985, Thomas was arrested without
probable cause, for disorderly conduct. Those charges were
dropped.
36. Plaintiffs persevered.
37. Officials promulgated 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12).
38. On April 4, l986, plaintiffs' lost their effective large
signs under color of 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12). Robert Dorrough was
arrested when he protested the confiscation by sitting next to a
sign larger than 4' x 4'.
39. Since April 4, 1986, Charles Hyder, Ph.D., has been
maintaining a 24-hour-a-day vigil under the new restrictions (see
Tr. Ex. 178 and attachments).
40. Repeatedly, and in good faith, plaintiffs have tried to
reason with various Park Service officials so that they might
effectively communicate their message, while complying with their
regulations. Always they have been rebuffed in these efforts.
(See Tr. Ex. 137, 157, 177(a)-(c), e.g.; supra. para. 15.)
41. Specific facts and acts with which each individual
defendant (identified, supra., at Parties (a) - (l)) is alleged to
have personally inter-acted are enumerated in, but not limited to,
those itemized in Plaintiff's Statement of Claim filed April 22,
1986, pursuant to Order of Judge Oberdorfer, and accepted by Judge
Oberdorfer under Order of June 4, 1986. The nature of and specific
actions with which defendants (identified, supra (m) - (w)) are
alleged to have personally or officially inter-acted are
enumerated, but not limited to, Plaintiffs' Motion For Joinder Of
Parties, Claims, And Remedies, filed September ___, 1986.
COUNTS
A. 36 CFR 50.27(a) (as published in the Federal Register on
June 4, 1982), 36 CFR 50.19(e)(9)(10), and 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12)
violate the First, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the
Constitution in that these regulations were selectively enforced
and/or unduly conceived and implemented against plaintiffs as a
post hoc bureaucratic remedy to Constitutionally-protected critical
activity which posed no substantial threat to Government interest
beyond questioning the sanity of Government's interests. (See
Complaint proposed Order for Preliminary Injunction, filed November
21, 1984, at page 197(6).)
B. Defendants violated 42 USC 1983.
C. Defendants violated 42 USC 1985(3).
D. Defendants violated 42 USC 1986.
E. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) abridges the First Amendment.
F. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) contravenes 5 USC 301. (Amended
Complaint Count 15.)
G. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) contravenes 5 USC 601. (Amended
Complaint Count 15.)
H. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) violates 36 CFR 50.19(b)(1).
(Amended Complaint Count 14.)
I. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) violates 36 CFR 50.19()(1).
(Amended Complaint Count 14.)
J. 36 CFR 50.19(e)(11)(12) violates Executive Order 12291.
(Amended Complaint Count 13.)
AMENDED RELIEF
In addition to the injunctive, declaratory and mandamus relief
already sought, plaintiffs seek additional relief as follows:
On June 6, 1984, the United States, based on what plaintiffs
claim to be USPP Officer David Haynes' false testimony, charged
William Thomas, Ellen Thomas, and Robert Dorrough with Assault on
a Police Officer. Testimony and evidence at trial will show that
it was in fact Officer Haynes who attacked William and Ellen Thomas
and Robert Dorrough, and that as a result Robert Dorrough received
medical treatment and wore a brace on his neck for several days.
(See attachment, Tr. Ex. 146(e), Declaration of Robert Dorrough,
filed this date.) The Grand Jury was insufficiently convinced by
Officer Haynes' testimony to indict the Thomases or Mr. Dorrough
for APO.
The camera Mr. and Mrs. Thomas used to photograph Officer
Haynes' brutal arrest of Robert Dorrough and William Thomas
disappeared while in the custody and control of Officer Haynes, and
while the camera was returned (nearly a year after the incident),
the film had been removed and, we are told, destroyed.
On March 13, 1986, Ellen Thomas was arrested while
demonstrating at the Library of Congress and learned from her
arresting officer that her record still reflects Officer Haynes'
APO accusation. This caused her some difficulty during the booking
process, and she is anxious that she not be further subjected to
the humiliation of being interrogated by strange police officers
about a violent crime she did not commit.
Likewise, William Thomas and Robert Dorrough wish their
records to be cleared of any reference to violence they did not
commit.
Additionally, plaintiffs ask for compensatory damages against
defendant U.S. Government in the symbolic sum of $25.00 (or
whatever is necessary to obtain a jury trial), plus whatever
additional sum which this Court determines to be fair and equitable
given the irreparable damage plaintiffs allege to have suffered as
a result of Government policy and actions.
"(A)lthough the touchstone of the Section 1983 action against
a government body is an allegation that official policy is
responsible for a deprivation of rights protected by the
Constitution, ... governments, like every other Section 1983
'person,' by the very terms of the statute, may be sued for
constitutional deprivations visited pursuant to governmental
'custom' even though such a custom has not received formal approval
through the body's official decision making channels. As Mr.
Justice Harlan, writing for the Court, said in Adickes v. H.S.
Kress & Co., 398 US 144, 167-168 (1970): 'Congress included customs
and usage (in Section 1983) because of the persistent and
widespread discriminatory practices of ... officials.... Although
not authorized by written law, such practices of ... officials
could well be so permanent and well settled as to constitute a
"custom or usage" with the force of law.'" (Monell v. New York
City Dept. of Social Services, 430 US 690, 691.)
Plaintiffs once again request a jury trial.
Respectfully submitted this _____ day
of September, 1986.
____________________________________
William Thomas, Plaintiff Pro Se
1440 N Street NW, #410 DC 20005
(202) 462-3542
Case Listing --- Proposition One ---- Peace Park