Media release - May 19, 2004
The Bush administration's attempt to use an obsolete "sailormongering" law to prosecute Greenpeace failed today when Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed the charges in the midst of the trial. Shortly after the Justice Department rested its case, the judge granted Greenpeace's motion for acquittal, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to send the case to the jury. Greenpeace was the first organization to be prosecuted for the free speech activities of its supporters.
"America's tradition of free speech won a victory today but our
liberties are still not safe," said Greenpeace Executive Director
John Passacantando. "The Bush administration and its allies seem
bent on stifling our tradition of civil protest, a tradition that
has made this country stronger throughout its history. Greenpeace
is grateful to everyone who stood with us -- from former vice
president Al Gore and NAACP Chair Julian Bond to the citizens of
Miami and people around the world. We will never give up the
struggle to protect our forests, our air, and our water and to
build a green and peaceful future."
The case stems from a protest that took place several miles off
the coast of Florida in April 2002. Two Greenpeace activists
peacefully boarded a ship that was carrying illegal mahogany wood
from the Brazilian Amazon into the Port of Miami. The activists,
who clearly identified themselves as Greenpeace, intended to hang a
banner that read "President Bush: Stop Illegal Logging." The
individuals involved in this nonviolent protest were arrested, and
misdemeanor charges against them were settled later that year.
However, instead of intercepting the illegal mahogany and
prosecuting the smugglers, the Justice Department filed criminal
charges against Greenpeace on July 18, 2003. Greenpeace was charged
under an obscure 1872 law against quot;sailormongering," aimed not
at protestors but at unscrupulous 19th-century innkeepers who would
attempt to lure sailors to their establishments.
Numerous leaders, legal scholars and
groups publicly criticized the prosecution, including Al Gore,
Senator Patrick Leahy, the NAACP, the ACLU of Florida, People for
the American Way, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense
Council, the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle and the
Denver Post.