Sept. 16, 2015

Dear Commissioner Bay,

During the August meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Laura Gubisch, who is affiliated with Beyond Extreme Energy, was arrested without cause. In finding Ms. Gubisch not guilty, Judge John McCabe of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia criticized FERC for its poor handling of the matter.

In his remarks, Judge McCabe emphasized the importance of public participation in government and chided FERC security for mishandling people who want to attend the agency’s meetings. He suggested that they be allowed to attend meetings and be asked to leave only if they become disruptive. He said people should not be singled out and preemptively directed to overflow rooms or otherwise barred from the proceedings. He also suggested the public be given an opportunity to speak, which is what BXE has been asking all along.

We expect that FERC will take seriously the judge’s admonition and allow BXE members to attend future FERC meetings, including the one schedule for Thursday, Sept. 17.

Below are excerpts from the Judge McCabe’s ruling on Aug. 26, 2015:

“[T]hese are issues that obviously, you know, people feel very stronglyabout. … And it's certainly important in our country that we have waysfor folks to participate in government. …

However, on this particular day, it sounds like it probably -- doesn't sound like it was necessarily handled that well. That's sort of a separate issue from the guilt or innocence, and I'm obviously going to find Ms. Gubisch not guilty.

…[T]he best way probably to handle it is to try to talk to people in advance and say something similar to what I'm saying, which is that people do feel strongly about these issues, and we want people to be able to observe what's going on. And if there's a way for them to speak-- at some public hearings, obviously members of the public are given the opportunity to make their own statements too, but that, you know, you want everyone to be able to hear so that people are allowed to stay, not based on what people would be disruptive.”

“[I]t seems like maybe the better policy would be just to advise people in advance, ‘If there's a disruption, we may have to ask people to leave.’ But I'm sure people were offended if they felt that they were singled out for this overflow room. You know, even though they could still observe, most people, I assume, would prefer to be in the room. You can see a little better when you're in the same room and at least be given the opportunity to show that they could observe things without causing a disruption."

Sincerely,

The BXE fasters and supporters