Like most professions, criminal defense work has its own set of jargon. For example, a witness “goes sideways” when he testifies differently than what he told the police. Or, we call it a “foot bail” when a client fails to show up for court.

If you tell a fellow criminal defense attorney that you are having a “Come to Jesus Meeting,” they will know you are about to have a difficult conversation with your client about the dangers of their current legal situation. The goal is to be truthful and direct, while not scaring the person so much they freak out.

We need to have a “Come to Jesus” meeting about how Donald Trump’s presidency will affect the festival scene.

Judging solely by my Facebook feed, a lot of the festival community is still in a little bit of shock over the election. Many people are unsure of the best way to respond. Me? Well, I’m a criminal defense attorney. That means: A) I’ve spent the majority of my adult life giving advice to people in “worst case scenarios” and B) Oppressive governments trampling people’s civil liberties are kind of my jam.

So let’s get this Come to Jesus meeting started. Here are some of my best predictions about what to expect and how you should prepare:

The Drug War Will Definitely Ramp Back Up

President-elect Trump has announced Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions as his pick for Attorney General. Senator Sessions is an old-school, hardcore, prohibitionist. It was Sessions who famously said, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.” He also once joked that his only issue with the Ku Klux Klan was their drug use. With Sessions directing federal drug policy and in charge of the DEA, it’s hard to imagine any scenario other than a massive escalation of the drug war in the United States.

The New Drug War Will Probably Trickle Down to Festivals

Photo by: Art Gimbel

An easy, yet sad, prediction (I mean “sad” in its original non-Trumpian usage) is how much harder it will be to get sensible “harm reduction” measures in place at festivals. The last few years have seen enormous strides in the festival community in terms of implementing a common sense, health-based approach to the use of drugs at events. That whole movement seems to be at risk. For example, it’s hard to imagine a Trump Administration being supportive of the important movement to “Amend The Rave Act.”

More Prosecutions of Festival-Goers

Another likely consequence of the new drug war will be more criminal prosecutions of festival-goers. As Stefanie Jones, director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s “Safer Partying” campaign told me, “I think a likely outcome of a Trump presidency is that it’s going to make festival producers more conservative, more enforcement minded.”

I agree. I think it’s extremely likely that more festivals will adopt a “Zero Tolerance” or security-minded approach to drugs. Festival-goers can expect more arrests, more cops and tighter searches at their events.

What’s the Worst Case Scenario??

Listen, I like you too much to lie to you. The “worst case scenario” is pretty “worst.” For example, our President-elect recently had a pretty friendly conversation and then endorsed the tactics of Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte. You know, the guy who is currently trying to murder everyone in his country for using or selling drugs?

Also, Trump has said some pretty radical stuff about the government stripping people of their citizenship if they engage in Constitutionally protected free speech like burning the American flag.

Right now, it doesn’t appear that a federal crackdown on the festival scene is one of Trump’s agendas. But what if we experience a terror attack at an event? Or what if we have another summer where festival deaths are constantly in the headlines? I could easily see festivals being turned into “4th Amendment Free” zones with The DEA or Homeland Security being used more at events. It wouldn’t shock me to also see some events being shut down or some “offensive” speech being curtailed.

Careful readers of this article are asking.... “Hey Festival Lawyer, I thought there'd be a part of this ‘Come to Jesus Meeting’ where you stop scaring the shit out of us and start giving solid advice about what we should be doing."

That’s true. Here are eight things you can do that are better than freaking out.

Do Something

I promise you that taking action will make you feel better. Go do something. Anything. Have a fundraiser. Hug a stranger. Be the person who legally educates your crew. Organize a boycott of a bad festival.

The bad news is, there is no repairman coming for us. No government agency has the festival community's back. We have to fix this ourselves. The good news is that festies are great at D.I.Y. I’ve never met a community of more creative, independent, and awesome people. Unleash your passion and talents.

Know Your Rights

Photo by: The Festival Lawyer

Funny story. Remember when I was always saying how dangerous it was to let the government have this much surveillance over us? And how having a populace that didn’t know its rights in encounters with the police was just playing with fire? Not to say I told you so but yeah, I fucking told you so. Get serious about knowing your rights. A good starting place is this article.

Learn the Guidelines for Peaceful Protests

Want to peacefully protest a Trump policy? First, learn the rules on doing so. The ACLU has a wonderful resource about how to plan a protest and what your rights are in that context.

Turn Off the Firehose

Facebook is a crazy firehose of negative political craziness. Practice self care. If you can’t stop “processing” the election then get outside and into nature, and shut down social media for a bit. Come back and pitch in to the fight when you are ready. Another good rule of thumb: Stop paying attention to any news or information provider that either A) Was nowhere near getting it right this election cycle or B) Is currently normalizing hatred, xenophobia, fear, or racism.

Get Involved

Pick an action group and get involved. Maybe join the Drug Policy Alliance, who are actively fighting for festival-goers' rights. Or get involved with a cause that is resonating with the festival community like fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A good list of festival related charities and action groups are listed here.

Learn the Truth and Tell It

Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” The media in Oceania are currently calling this phenomenon a “Post Truth Society” Don’t buy into it. Find accurate, non-insane sources of information and remain committed to the truth.

For Progressives try https://tytnetwork.com/ . For Libertarians try http://reason.com/. For those who want to start a “Love Army,” you'll be inspired by this Rolling Stone article.

Be Smart About Your Online Life

Honestly, in the festival community we’ve gotten a little too free about our discussions on social media. Stop talking about illegal activities on social media. Better yet, take active steps to protect your privacy online.

Become a Member of the “Do Ocracy”

Photo by: Art Gimbel

I think the most important lesson we can learn from the election is that getting involved on a personal, local level can help change the culture of hate and fear that we see so much of these days. John “Halcyon” Styn had a great article in which he called personal involvement like this a “Do-Ocracy.” For example, Paul E. Amori (who is “mayor” of the Lightning In a Bottle Music Festival) is now a mayoral candidate for real in Los Angeles.

I love his stated reason for running:

“Times like these require that we do more than sit on the sidelines and escape into our beautiful festival bubbles where we have already created the world we want to live in. We need to help shepherd that world into reality and the only way we do that is by getting involved!”

Finally, remember that the Founding Fathers would have been on our side. As much as people want to paint the Founding Fathers as ascetic Puritans, they weren’t. They were hard drinking, (James Madison, father of the Constitution, drank a pint of whiskey every day) womanizing (if you’ve seen Hamilton you know why Martha Washington named her tomcat after him) lovers of personal liberty. When you get discouraged, remember that no other country put “pursuit of happiness” in its founding doctrines.

Photo by: Festival Lawyer

Disclaimer: Although the Festival Lawyer is a lawyer he is not YOUR lawyer. The Festival Lawyer's column gives general information about legal topics, NOT legal advice. The law is complex, varies a great deal from state to state, and each factual situation is different. Also, “The Festival Lawyer” is a fictional character. Think of the Festival Lawyer more like a legal spirit guide, encouraging you to educate and inform yourself.