Feds set up temporary court near Rainbow Family gathering

CANYON CITY, Ore. (AP) – Federal prosecutors and judges are setting up a temporary court in remote eastern Oregon to handle citations against any attendees at the Rainbow Family of Living Light annual counter-culture gathering.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2uf6bE2) that the remote court will be able to handle everything from parking violations to drug offenses to minor assaults that arise out of the festival that could attract up to 20,000 people.

It’s not clear how the federal prosecutors will handle marijuana use at the event in the Malheur National Forest.

Recreational marijuana is legal in Oregon but remains an illegal drug under federal law.

Kevin Sonoff, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, tells OPB that prosecutors will take a “measured approach.”

The gathering occurs each year on a different national forest.