The New York Times
July 6, 2001

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sentenced to Jail for Vieques Protest

              By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

              SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A federal judge sentenced environmental lawyer Robert
              F. Kennedy Jr. to 30 days in prison Friday for trespassing while attempting to thwart
              U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques island.

              Several other protesters were convicted along with Kennedy, including New York
              labor leader Dennis Rivera and Norma Burgos, a senator in Puerto Rico's
              legislature.

              ``You should be a lawmaker not a lawbreaker,'' Chief U.S. District Judge Hector
              Lafitte told Burgos, sentencing her to 40 days. When she said that the Navy should
              be tried instead of the protesters, Lafitte called her defiant and increased the term to
              60 days in jail. Rivera and three others were given 30-day prison terms.

              He dismissed arguments that the protest was for the greater good -- to end
              contamination of the environment and save islanders' health.

              Kennedy and the others were among some 180 people arrested for trespassing
              during exercises with dummy bombs in late April and early May on the Puerto Rican
              island. They include actor Edward James Olmos and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a
              Democrat from Illinois, who have yet to go on trial.

              The Rev. Al Sharpton and Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson,
              were among protesters recently jailed. Mrs. Jackson served a 10-day sentence last
              month. Sharpton was sentenced to 90 days because it was his second conviction
              and is to remain behind bars in New York City until Aug. 15.

              Several people gathered outside the courthouse Friday to speak in support of the
              other protesters, including Jesse Jackson and Democratic Reps. John Conyers of
              Michigan and Nydia Velazquez of New York.

              Before entering the courtroom, Kennedy said he was ready to go to jail. But
              supporters said it was poor timing with his wife is expected to give birth to their sixth
              child next week.

              Kennedy's lawyer, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, had planned to use the
              trial to argue for a political solution to end six decades of bombardments on the
              Navy's prized Atlantic firing range. But Lafitte refused to hear that line of argument,
              saying ``I'm not going to allow political views, philosophical views, none of that.''

              Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser took testimony from Navy officers who said
              that Kennedy and Rivera's incursion -- from a fishing boat onto the beachside firing
              range -- forced a halt in the exercises.

              ``As soon as the vessel, the boat, entered the danger zone, I had to cease fire,'' said
              Lt. Cmdr. Russell Gottfried.

              He said he interrupted the ship-to-shore shelling for 2 1/2 hours while security
              officers scoured the range for Kennedy's party, which was hiding in mangroves.

              Kennedy, the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, said he is glad that
              since he was arrested, President Bush has announced that the Navy will stop
              bombing exercises on Vieques by May 2003.

              But, he said, ``That position begs the question, why are we going to continue
              bombing?''

              Kennedy and other opponents argue the bombing harms the environment and the
              health of the island's 9,100 residents -- charges the Navy strongly denies.