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Fifth Column
Anti-war Nuns to be Sentenced in Denver This Hour
2003-07-25
A prosecutor ticked off more than two dozen arrests involving three pacifist nuns today as he urged a federal judge to send the women to prison for damaging a Colorado missile silo last fall. Responding to defense claims that the women aren’t criminals, prosecutor Robert Brown enumerated earlier arrests of the Roman Catholic nuns at anti-war protests: Ardeth Platte, at least 10 times, Jackie Hudson five times and Carol Gilbert, at least 13 times.
How selfish and mean-spirted of these women to tie up the enforcement and judicial resources of our country in order to impose their views, in a criminal and illegal manner, on the populace. Typical leftist parochialism.
"These ladies could not be deterred for the last 20 years. They will be deterred for the time the court sentences them," Brown said. Sentencing was scheduled for later Friday. Hudson, 68, Gilbert, 55, and Platte, 66, face up to 30 years in prison, though prosecutors have recommended the minimum sentence of six to eight years.
At the very least it will knock 3 Howard Dean voters out.
The women were convicted in April of obstructing the national defense and damaging government property last fall after walking onto a Minuteman III silo site, swinging hammers and using their blood to paint a cross on the structure. Officials said the women caused at least $1,000 in damage. The sentencing drew international attention to the three Dominican Sisters, and an adjoining courtroom was packed with supporters listening to the proceedings on a speaker. The three women, dressed in black, took notes during the hearing and occasionally swung their seats around to smile at well-wishers in the audience.
What a show they are putting on! Tomorow we have another sideshow in Denver as the Hillary book tour comes to town.
Before the hearing, the nuns defiantly told a crowd of 150 supporters outside the courthouse they were not afraid of prison. "The hope of the world rests on each of our shoulders," Hudson said. "We are doing our part. What about you?" Just before the nuns went inside to be sentenced, the crowd formed a large circle for a group blessing.
They're gonna need extra-large cells to accomodate those egos...
"Whatever sentence I receive today will be joyfully accepted as an offering for peace and with god’s help it will not injure my spirit," Platte said. She choked up, stopped speaking and was hugged by the other sisters. Asked if vandalizing the silo was illegal, Hudson said: "When someone holds a gun to your head or someone else’s head do you not have a right and a duty to enter that arena and stop that crime?" The nuns are longtime anti-war activists. Platte and Gilbert lived in Baltimore’s Jonah House, an activist community founded by the late peace activist Philip Berrigan, and Hudson lived in a similar community in Poulsbo, Wash. The three were arrested Oct. 6 at the silo on Colorado’s northeastern plains. Wearing white chemical weapons suits, they argued it was a symbolic disarmament that did not jeopardize national security. The nuns said they were compelled to act as war with Iraq moved closer and because the United States has never promised not to use nuclear weapons.
What logic! What clarity of thinking! Couldn’t they have just defecated in the streets as did the peace-loving leftists of San Francisco?
Some peace activists said the felony conviction was harsh and intended to have a "chilling effect" on other protesters.
Damn straight you freaking morons.
Normal people choose to call it a "deterrent effect," but it's the same idea: you screw around, you get jugged. With the possible exception of blood type, you're no different than anybody else...
The women chose to stay in jail after their arrest, refusing the government’s offer to be released on their own recognizance. After the nuns were convicted, they visited family and friends, and made the rounds of potluck suppers and peace rallies. They planned visits to their mother house, the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Dominicans.
Suppose they will have National tour T-shirts made?
Hudson’s lawyer, Walter Gerash, insisted during the trial the nuns did nothing to prevent the missile from "doing its demonic damage." He compared the women to Martin Luther King Jr. and American colonists who dumped tea into Boston Harbor. On Friday, the defense asked U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn for leniency, saying even prosecution witnesses agreed the nuns didn’t harm the national defense. "If any case cries out for departure from the sentencing guidelines, this is the case," said Gilbert’s attorney, Susan Tyburski.
The repetition of the act belies that statement...
Brown, however, said the women didn’t leave the missile site when asked. He also drew gasps from the audience when he referred to a plan by activists to protest at various Colorado missile silos on Saturday. "Tomorrow all these people are going to go out and adopt a silo," he said. "But for probably 40 years these missile silos have adopted us and protected us because there hasn’t been a nuclear exchange."
Thank you Mr. Brown for bringing some reality and perspective to the proceedings.
Many of the nuns’ supporters waved anti-war banners at the pre-sentencing rally, including Irina Zadov, whose sign read "No Blood for Oil."
Oh, yes, the ever-popular "No Blood for Oil" sign. I fully expect this to be one of the planks at the DNC’s national convention next year.
"To see people of their age sacrificing as much as they have is so inspirational," she said.
No Ms. Zadov, to see people of your age sacrificing their lives to protect your sorry ass is what should be inspiring you. You sorry piece of flesh.
Posted by:ColoradoConservative

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Posted by: Frank G   2003-7-25 11:24:31 PM  

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Posted by: Alaska Paul   2003-7-25 8:59:02 PM  

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Posted by: raptor   2003-7-25 7:31:15 PM  

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Posted by: Frank G   2003-7-25 7:01:16 PM  

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Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire   2003-7-25 4:36:19 PM  

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