On May 19, 2004, a federal court judge threw out the charges brought against Greenpeace by the United States Justice Department. Shortly after the prosecution rested their case, the judge decided that there was not enough evidence for the case to go to the jury and granted the motion for acquittal. It was the first time in history that an entire organization was held liable for the actions of a couple of its supporters. Organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Sierra Club opposed the Bush administration‰€ªs move as an attempt to use the heavy hand of government to silence its critics. Greenpeace was charged under an 1872 law that was meant to keep brothel recruiters from boarding ships. The U.S. Justice Department under Attorney General John Ashcroft tried to use the obscure law to convict an entire national organization for the acts of two activists who had climbed aboard a ship carrying Amazon mahogany wood into the Port of Miami. The two hung a banner that said, "President Bush: Stop Illegal Logging." Unfortunately, the unprecedented prosecution of Greenpeace drew more of attention than the issue ‰€“- American importation of illegal and endangered trees. South Carolina Herald reported that "the lucrative Brazilian wood was later unloaded in Charleston." A Brazilian lawmaker and former head of Brazil's environmental agency, who had signed the mahogany export moratorium in October 2001, said the acquittal will "help us fight in Brazil against such illegal activities."