Bush vs. Greenpeace

Greenpeace USA was under threat of being declared a criminal organization.

In April 2002, six Greenpeace activists took action to save our forests. After two of them boarded a commercial ship which was bringing illegal mahogany into the port of Miami, Florida, they pleaded guilty, were fined and sentenced to "time served" - the weekend they all spent in jail. The judicial process had run its course.

Or so we thought...

Fifteen months later Greenpeace USA headquarters in Washington was served notice that the U.S. Attorney General's office would be prosecuting the entire organization for the action - the first time in history that the U.S. Government has prosecuted an advocacy group for a free-speech related activity.

We were being prosecuted under an obscure 1872 law against "sailormongering." The bizarre law was originally designed to discourage owners of inns and brothels from boarding ships, as they are about to enter port, in order to lure the sailors into their establishments. It has only been used twice in its history.

Ultimately, the Bush administration's case against us was thrown out of court. Judge Adalberto Jordan acquitted us after accepting our claim that the U.S. government provided insufficient evidence to the court.

Speaking from the Miami Federal Courthouse, Executive Director John Passacantando said, "America's tradition of free speech won a victory today, but our liberties are still not safe, the Bush administration and its allies seem bent on stifling our tradition of civil protest, a tradition that has made our country stronger throughout our history.

View a wrap-up from CBS news in Miami.

View reactions surrounding the trial from activists and supporters in Miami in this streaming video