Free e-mail . Privacy policy . Terms of use . A federal judge sentenced Sharpton to 90 days in jail Wednesday for trespassing on U.S. Navy property as part of a May 1 protest against bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. The Navy has used its range on Vieques for six decades and says the practice is safe and vital for national security.
Critics say it poses a health threat.
Sharpton stood by the protests during his court appearance in front of Judge Jose Fuste. ''If Martin Luther King were alive, he would have come to Vieques and raised these issues,'' he said. Fuste sentenced Sharpton as a repeat offender because he had prior arrests for civil disobedience in New York. Sharpton was taken to a federal prison in Puerto Rico. His spokeswoman, Rachel Noerdlinger, said Johnnie Cochran is assembling a team of lawyers who plan to file an appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico. He strongly feels that he's been victimized by the justice system,'' Noerdlinger said.