Longshoremen suit is dismissed

A government lawsuit against the International Longshoremen’s Union, aimed at wresting control of the nation’s docks from alleged organized crime, was dismissed by a federal judge who called the effort well-intentioned but overreaching.

The civil racketeering lawsuit targeted union officials and mobsters.

It had dragged for two years through pretrial meetings and motions until U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser granted the union’s request to dismiss.

It was a blow to prosecutors, who announced the suit to much attention in July 2005, evoking the film classic “On the Waterfront.”