DOJ Prosecutes Greenpeace Organization Under Archaic 'Sailor Mongering' Law
The Bush Justice Department took the unprecedented step in 2003 of criminally prosecuting Greenpeace USA as an organization — not just individual activists — using an 1872 law against 'sailor mongering' after activists boarded a mahogany-laden cargo ship. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2004, calling it an improper attempt to punish an advocacy group.
In April 2002, two Greenpeace activists boarded a ship carrying illegal Amazon mahogany in the Port of Miami to hang a protest banner. The activists were arrested on trespassing charges, as had been routine in dozens of prior Greenpeace actions. However, in May 2003 the Bush DOJ took the extraordinary step of indicting Greenpeace USA as an organization under an 1872 law — previously used only once, in 1890 — that was originally intended to stop brothel operators from luring sailors off ships. Prosecutors sought to revoke Greenpeace's probation and effectively shut down the organization's operations in the United States. First Amendment scholars and press freedom advocates condemned the prosecution as an attempt to criminalize organized protest. On April 19, 2004, U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed all charges, ruling the government had failed to produce sufficient evidence and signaling skepticism about the legal theory. The case, United States v. Greenpeace, Inc., 314 F.Supp.2d 1252 (S.D. Fla. 2004), remains the only federal prosecution of an entire environmental advocacy organization.