Three catholic sisters of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) Congregation of the Sacred Hearts in Grand Rapids, Sister Carol Gilbert, 55, Sister Ardeth Platte, 67, and Jackie Hudson, 68, were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison as a result of their civil disobedience at a Colorado missile silo.
The sisters, naming themselves Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II staged a symbolic disarmament of a nuclear-armed Minuteman-3 missile on October 6, 2002. On that morning, the nuns, wearing HAZMAT suits labeled with the words Citizens Weapons Inspection Team, cut a hole through a fence and began their action. They poured the blood they were carrying into the shape of six crosses on the 20-ton missile lid and repeatedly hit the lid of the missile silo with a ball-ping hammer. Three panels of fencing were cut down to open the site for public inspection and the nuns were able to complete a liturgy and sing songs and hymns before Air Force personnel appeared.
At their trial in the first week of April 2002, the three were found guilty of two felonies--Destruction of National Defense Materials and Damaging US Property. The damage cited by the prosecution was at least $1,000.
Their attorney has argued that the nuns' actions were not only legal, but also morally imperative under the Nuremberg Principles, yet the sisters were not allowed to use international law or morality to defend their actions. The nuns had intended to argue that they were compelled to act in order to bring attention to the 49 nuclear-armed Minutemen-3 missiles in Colorado, missiles that each have an explosive power of 300 kilotons or nearly 25 times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. They acted both out of their religious faith, "in the many names of God the Compassionate" "to transform swords into plowshares" as well as what they see as an obligation under the principles of international law. Citing the 1945 Nuremberg Charter, they believe individuals are required to act against government policies that violate international law.
The prosecution asked for five to eight years in prison, citing the sisters' long history of civil disobedience. The judge, Robert Blackburn, had the option of sentencing the sisters to up to 20 years in prison, but instead chose to depart from the prosecution's recommendations of five to eight years. Hudson was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, Gilbert two years and nine months, and Platte to three years and five months. They were all given three years of supervised probation. Although not required to report to prison until August 25, they chose to go immediately.
Before today's sentencing, there was a short rally outside the courthouse with approximately 150 people in attendance. In addition to the rally, there is a large action planned for tomorrow, July 26 in Colorado. Citizens acting through the inspiration given to them by the three sisters, will form Citizen Weapon Inspection Teams and converge on the 49 nuclear missile silos in northeastern Colorado as part of the Adopt-a-Silo action designed to show where real weapons of mass destruction can be found and to show their solidarity. There will also be a solidarity event in Grand Rapids at Marywood, at 10:30am.
The Rocky Mountain Independent Media Center will provide coverage of tomorrow's Adopt-a-Silo action.
