A judge refused Thursday to throw out federal charges against Greenpeace for protesting a shipment of Amazon mahogany, setting up a trial that could serve as a test on the limits of political dissent.
The Justice Department charged the environmental group under an obscure 19th century law enacted to stop pimps from clambering aboard ships heading for port. The government has never successfully prosecuted an activist organization on criminal charges over protest methods.
Although U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan allowed the case to move forward, parts of his ruling could give prosecutors reason to be nervous.
“This case is, to put it mildly, unusual,” Jordan wrote. Although the law’s “lack of use does not prevent the government from going forward against Greenpeace, it does point to how uncommon such a prosecution is.”
Judge likes Greenpeace's chances
Jordan did not make a final decision on Greenpeace’s claim that the wording of the old law is too vague, but said the argument “looks like a winner.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Matt Dates declined comment.
Greenpeace claims the Bush administration is going out of its way to stifle dissent in retaliation for its pushy challenges to pollution, deforestation and global warming.
The prosecution “has the potential to transform an important aspect of our nation’s legal and political life, significantly affecting our tradition of civil protest,” said Greenpeace executive director John Passacantando.
Protest background
The charges stem from a 2002 protest on the 965-foot APL Jade more than three miles off Miami Beach. Two protesters jumped aboard the vessel while members in two rubber rafts zigzagged in front of the ship. The crew kept protesters from unfurling a banner reading, “President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging.”
Greenpeace claims the ship was carrying illegally cut Brazilian mahogany and that Bush has failed to enforce an international import ban.
Six Greenpeace members settled criminal charges over the boarding, but a misdemeanor indictment charged the group with conspiracy and an illegal boarding under the 1872 law.
Each count carries a possible $10,000 fine plus probation, a chilling prospect for an organization that is afraid it could be forced to open its records to government inspection.
The judge said the fears were “unfounded” and specifically noted that Greenpeace’s membership list would be protected.
The jury trial will begin May 17.
