“If you are up for a bit of civil disobedience,” read the invitation, “meet at the west front of the Capitol lawn at 1:00 today. Come armed with sleds!”
It was a small protest, scaled to match the size of the injustice. “There are really serious problems out there in the world,” its organizer told the National Journal. “I thought this was one little thing I might be able to change.” The sledders were met on the snow-covered slopes in the shadow of Congress by the Capitol Police, politely distributing notices that they were in violation of the law.
The ban on sledding took effect in the winter of 2001, along with a slew of other security restrictions. The rule is stern and unambiguous: “No person shall coast or slide a sled within Capitol Grounds.”