Damned judicial activists
Greenpeace Cleared in U.S. Ship-Boarding Case
Wed May 19, 2004 05:53 PM ET
By Jim Loney
MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday acquitted environmental protection group Greenpeace on charges it conspired to break the law by sending activists aboard a freighter carrying illegally felled mahogany two years ago.
The politically charged case dusted off a law not used since 1890 to bring the first criminal prosecution by U.S. authorities of an advocacy group for civil disobedience.
U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan granted a Greenpeace motion to dismiss the charges after the prosecution rested on the third day of trial, ruling federal prosecutors had failed to prove their case, a Greenpeace lawyer said.
"We're elated. This is a real victory for America's tradition of free speech," said John Passacantando, the executive director of Greenpeace U.S. "But our liberties are still in jeopardy, of course. The Bush administration is intent on stifling free speech."
