May 17, 2004
BUSH ADMINISTRATION ATTACK ON PEACEFUL PROTEST GOES TO TRIAL
TODAY
An unprecedented case that could stifle free speech and set
civil liberties back decades goes to trial today in federal
district court in Miami, pitting the Bush administration against
the nonviolent environmental activist group, Greenpeace.
The case stems from a peaceful protest staged two years ago,
when two Greenpeace activists boarded a commercial ship off the
coast of Florida that was delivering 70 tons of illegally
harvested mahogany from a Brazilian rainforest.
The activists were detained before they could unfurl a banner
that read, "President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging." The protest
was part of an ongoing campaign -- in cooperation with the
government of Brazil -- to bring international attention to the
destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Shortly after the protest,
a global treaty strengthening international protections for
mahogany was signed.[1]
In keeping with a longstanding Greenpeace tradition, the two
activists took responsibility for their actions by pleading
guilty and serving time for the misdemeanor charges that stemmed
from the ship-boarding incident.
But then, some 15 months after the protest, the Bush
administration dredged up a long-forgotten 1872
"sailor-mongering" statute, enacted to prevent houses of ill
repute from luring sailors off ships entering port, and brought
charges against Greenpeace itself for authorizing the April 2002
protest.
"This is the first time in U.S. history that the Government has
prosecuted an organization for the free speech-related
activities of its supporters," wrote John Passacantando,
executive director of Greenpeace USA, in a letter to supporters.
"The stakes are extremely high -- not only for the continued
viability of Greenpeace but also for all Americans who value our
tradition of free speech, peaceful protest, and civil
disobedience, from the Boston Tea Party to Martin Luther King
and beyond."
If the U.S. Justice Department prevails, Greenpeace could be
fined up to $20,000 and its tax-exempt status could be in
jeopardy. The organization's future activities could also be
subjected to intense government scrutiny.[2]
"If John Ashcroft had done this in the 1960s, black Americans
would not be voting today, eating at formerly all-white lunch
counters or sitting on bus front seats," NAACP Chair Julian Bond
told BushGreenwatch last December. "This is a government assault
on time-honored nonviolent civil disobedience as practiced by
Martin Luther King and thousands of other Americans."[3]
The last court decision stemming from the "sailor-mongering" law
dates back to 1890. U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan, who
will hear the case, granted a Greenpeace motion requesting a
jury trial on the grounds that "the indictment is a rare -- and
maybe unprecedented -- prosecution of an advocacy group" for
exercising its right to free speech.[4]
Although the importation of illegally harvested mahogany
violates both U.S. law and an international treaty, the Ashcroft
Justice Department has taken no action against the company that
imported the illegal mahogany.
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