members of a religious group calling itself the friends of lucifer believe in lucifer as their supreme being. the members of this group meet once a year on top of mt. snow, located in a u.s. national park, to hold an overnight encampment and a midnight dance around a large campfire. they believe this overnight encampment and all of its rituals are required by lucifer to be held on the top of mt. snow. u.s. national park service rules that have been consistently enforced prohibit all overnight camping and all campfires on mt. snow because of the very great dangers overnight camping and campfires would pose in that particular location. as a result, the park superintendent denied a request by the friends of lucifer for a permit to conduct these activities on top of mt. snow. the park superintendent, who was known to be violently opposed to cults and other unconventional groups had, in the past, issued permits to conventional religious groups to conduct sunrise services in other areas of that u.s. national park. the friends of lucifer brought suit in federal court against the u.s. national park service and the superintendent of the park to compel issuance of the requested permit.
