http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/26/us_uses_1872_law_against_activists/When prosecutors brought charges against Greenpeace for protesting a shipment of Amazon mahogany, they dusted off a 19th-century federal law enacted to stop pimps from clambering aboard ships entering port.
Environmentalists call the charges a heavy-handed attempt to stifle free speech, and say the government is retaliating against Greenpeace for previous in-your-face protests against the Bush administration.
The federal government has never successfully prosecuted an entire activist organization on criminal charges over its protest methods -- not Operation Rescue, not the NAACP, not even the Ku Klux Klan.
"It's an incredible abuse of power, and this is nothing short of political retribution," said a Sierra Club spokesman, Eric Antebi. "We think this sets a horrible precedent for political intimidation of public-interest groups."
Environmentalists want a judge to throw out the indictment and release Justice Department records that may show why charges were brought under an 1872 law not used since the 1800s.
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