The federal government has petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a case to determine the legal authority of the brass at Vandenberg Air Force Base to enforce no trespassing edicts at the base gate in the face of ongoing peace protests. The appeal was filed in response to a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last year striking down the trespassing conviction of Dennis Apel, a veteran peace activist who’s been arrested nearly 20 times protesting at Vandenberg. Apel’s conviction was overturned on the grounds that the base did not have sole and exclusive authority over the public road in front of the Air Force base; that authority was shared with the County of Santa Barbara.
