In early 2000, a police force of 600 confronted Charleston longshoremen during a peaceful march protesting the use of non-union dockworkers. Weeks after the tear gas cleared, a politically ambitious state attorney general filed felony riot and assault indictments against five longshoremen: the men who became internationally known as the "Charleston 5."

While the International Longshoreman Association, the AFL-CIO, and many other labor organizations commenced the international "Free the Charleston 5" campaign, DAW took on the state attorney general. DAW filed allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, the state attorney general backed down, and the Charleston 5 case was a great success for the labor movement.