Trial to Open for Peace-Protesting Nuns
Sun Mar 30, 4:56 PM ET
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer
DENVER - The nuns say they were exercising their right to free speech when they cut through a fence around a Minuteman III missile silo, used their own blood to paint a cross on the military structure and began swinging at it with hammers.
Prosecutors say those actions interfered with the national defense a crime, that if a jury finds the women guilty, could put them behind bars for 20 years.
Dominican sisters Ardeth Platte, 66, Carol Gilbert, 55, and Jackie Hudson, 68, head to court on Monday for a trial supporters say is ill-timed in the midst of war.
"If it had been Iraq (news - web sites) and these nuns had found these weapons everyone would have praised them as heroes. And that's exactly the right response," said Anabel Dwyer, a legal adviser to Platte.
The nuns, jailed since their Oct. 6 protest near Greeley, maintain they were a "Citizens Weapons Inspections Team" that was symbolically disarming the United States.
They had argued their actions fell under principles established by the war crimes tribunal at Nuremberg after World War II. The United States endorsed the principle that people are obligated to disobey laws that lead to crimes against humanity. But U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled the defense may not be used at the trial.
The women will now argue they were exercising symbolic free speech, according to Walter Gerash, who represents Hudson.
Each faces one count of willful injury, interference or obstruction of national defense, which carries up to 20 years in prison, and a count of causing more than $1,000 in damage, which carries a maximum 10-year term.
Despite fears by supporters that the trial's timing would work against the nuns, Gerash said the sisters didn't want a delay. They are heartened by anti-war protests, he said.
"It's amazing how people are saying no to war," Platte said in a telephone interview. "This is a turning point in the world. People are saying we are sick and tired of the killing."
The nuns say they receive about 30 letters a day from supporters around the world. About 50 peace advocates were expected to attend the trial, including Elizabeth McAlister, the widow of longtime peace activist Philip Berrigan.
Gilbert and Platte both lived at Jonah House, the communal residence for pacifists Berrigan founded in Baltimore. Hudson belongs to a similar group in Poulsbo, Wash.
The nuns have crossed Colorado authorities with their protests before. In 2000, they spent six days in jail in Colorado Springs after using an open house at Peterson Air Force Base to gain access to a fighter jet. They poured blood on it, pounded it with a hammer and prayed. Charges were dropped after the Air Force said damage was minimal.
Sun Mar 30, 4:56 PM ET
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer
DENVER - The nuns say they were exercising their right to free speech when they cut through a fence around a Minuteman III missile silo, used their own blood to paint a cross on the military structure and began swinging at it with hammers.
Prosecutors say those actions interfered with the national defense a crime, that if a jury finds the women guilty, could put them behind bars for 20 years.
Dominican sisters Ardeth Platte, 66, Carol Gilbert, 55, and Jackie Hudson, 68, head to court on Monday for a trial supporters say is ill-timed in the midst of war.
"If it had been Iraq (news - web sites) and these nuns had found these weapons everyone would have praised them as heroes. And that's exactly the right response," said Anabel Dwyer, a legal adviser to Platte.
The nuns, jailed since their Oct. 6 protest near Greeley, maintain they were a "Citizens Weapons Inspections Team" that was symbolically disarming the United States.
They had argued their actions fell under principles established by the war crimes tribunal at Nuremberg after World War II. The United States endorsed the principle that people are obligated to disobey laws that lead to crimes against humanity. But U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled the defense may not be used at the trial.
The women will now argue they were exercising symbolic free speech, according to Walter Gerash, who represents Hudson.
Each faces one count of willful injury, interference or obstruction of national defense, which carries up to 20 years in prison, and a count of causing more than $1,000 in damage, which carries a maximum 10-year term.
Despite fears by supporters that the trial's timing would work against the nuns, Gerash said the sisters didn't want a delay. They are heartened by anti-war protests, he said.
"It's amazing how people are saying no to war," Platte said in a telephone interview. "This is a turning point in the world. People are saying we are sick and tired of the killing."
The nuns say they receive about 30 letters a day from supporters around the world. About 50 peace advocates were expected to attend the trial, including Elizabeth McAlister, the widow of longtime peace activist Philip Berrigan.
Gilbert and Platte both lived at Jonah House, the communal residence for pacifists Berrigan founded in Baltimore. Hudson belongs to a similar group in Poulsbo, Wash.
The nuns have crossed Colorado authorities with their protests before. In 2000, they spent six days in jail in Colorado Springs after using an open house at Peterson Air Force Base to gain access to a fighter jet. They poured blood on it, pounded it with a hammer and prayed. Charges were dropped after the Air Force said damage was minimal.
