The Man strikes back at Greenpeace

Greenpeace, well known for activism, communism and terrorism, now has a new shtick: pollution. The organization and several members are on trial for criminal negligence in violating Oregon maritime oil-spill regulations. Oregon claims the prosecution is coming after the Greenpeace boat agreed to stay anchored once it realized the regulatory problems, but left anyway without fixing them; Greenpeace thinks this is being done in retaliation for being anti-logging (or because the good people of Oregon are keeping the red-fighting spirit of Joe McCarthy alive). If the hippies are right, there’s an abuse of process claim.

My second favorite part of the article (besides seeing Greenpeace on trial) was when the counsel for the defense said “Those on board [the Greenpeace boat] didn't know [of the requirements]…. ‘There was no criminal negligence here,' he said.” Apparently he didn’t catch much of criminal law or torts: ignorance of the law is no excuse and, by definition, negligence means that the defendant didn’t know what was going on.