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Tag: nun in jail

  • Nun Sentenced to 35 Months in Prison for Anti-Nuclear Protest

    A Federal District Judge sentenced an 84-year-old Roman Catholic nun to 35 months in prison Tuesday for breaking into a nuclear facility on July 28, 2012.

    Sister Megan Rice was found guilty of damaging more than $1,000 worth of U.S. government property at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

    Protesters Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, and 63-year-old Michael Walli were also sentenced to five years for breaking into one of the nation’s most secured uranium facilities.

    In an attempt to protest against nuclear weapons, the trio cut through four fences and snuck past armed guards before finally making their way onto the premises.

    The vandalization went on for more than two hours. The activists used banners, spray paint, and blood to recite Biblical slogans of peace.

    One of the last properties they destroyed was a storage building that housed $548 million worth of uranium. It was in that moment that a security guard caught Sister Rice and her partners-in-crime.

    “The protesters put themselves at a high risk of losing their life in performing this act,” a National Nuclear Security Administration said, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

    However, it appears that the nun has placed herself in similar situations numerous times.

    According to The New York Times, Sister Rice joined a nunnery at the age of 18, and by the 1980s, she was a member of an anti-nuclear demonstration group. One of her most well-known punishments was serving six months in prison for kneeling down in front of a truck, blocking its way into a Nevada nuclear site.

    Evidently, the anti-nuclear activist has always been resilient to law enforcement. According to her, the government’s 70-year industry of criminalization should be of main concern.

    “We spend more on nuclear arms than on the departments of education, health, transportation, disaster relief and a number of other government agencies that I can’t remember,” she told the newspaper.

    In a closing statement to Judge Amul Thapar, Sister Rice appeared to be unapologetic. She requested to receive the maximum prison sentence.

    “Please have no leniency with me,” CS Monitor reported her saying. “To remain in prison for the rest of my life would be the greatest gift you could give me.”

    Here is an interview done by HLN:

    Image via YouTube

  • Sister Megan Rice, A Nun Facing Life In Prison

    Sister Megan Rice is an 83-year-old Catholic nun who will likely be spending the rest of her life in prison.

    Her and two other peace activists were protesting a nuclear power plant when they took it a little further than just holding signs. The three are accused of breaking into the Oak Ridge nuclear facility in Tennessee. According to the court, they illegally broke into the primary U.S. storehouse for bomb-grade uranium.

    The activists, Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed are also being accused of sabotage for damage they caused when they broke into the facility, cutting through fences and painting slogans on the walls before splattering blood and damaging a wall with hammers.

    The government is recommending sentences of approximately six to nine years each, and they also want restitution for damages in the amount of almost $53,000.

    The trio is asking for leniency because of the sensitivity of the issue. They have explained that their actions at the Y-12 National Security Complex were symbolic and meant to draw attention to America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, which they call immoral and illegal.

    The act was also intended to show the world how easily the stockpile was accessed by the trio and how little security is in place.

    Their defense attorney, Bill Quigley said, “These people have been committed peace and justice advocates for decades.” Previous requests for leniency were declined, keeping the three in jail while the trial progressed.

    Letters of support are flowing in and the case is drawing a lot of attention, mostly asking for mercy for the three, but the support also has to do with the fact that Sister Rice will be turning 84 years old on Jan 28th, ironically the day of her sentencing.

    The judge has been presented with thousands of support letters from around the world, which Quigley called the greatest show of support he has seen in his two decades of working with protesters.

    “I think that is mostly because of Sister Rice,” Quigley said. “She’s very well loved and has lots of people praying for her and supporting her.”

    He noted that there is no minimum sentence. The activists have been in prison since they were convicted in May, and it is possible that they could be sentenced to time served.

    Sister Katharine Holmstrom, a nun in London, is one of the letters that was presented to the court, where she pleaded,

    “Your court faces a great challenge – making a careful distinction between persons who act in clear conscience, guided by a moral vision, and others whose actions may be self-serving or maleficent in nature.”

    All three will find out their fates on Tuesday (Jan. 28) when the judge comes back with his sentencing in the case.

    Image via YouTube