Nuns likely face terms of 5-8 years

Catholic New Times, May 4, 2003

DENVER -- A federal jury convicted three Roman Catholic nuns Monday of obstructing national defense and damaging government property after they cut through fences and sprayed their own blood on a Minuteman III missile silo last year.

While the Dominican sisters face up to 30 years in prison, federal prosecutors said they expect terms closer to five to eight years. Sentencing is scheduled for July 25 in U.S. District Court in Denver.

"We knew the forces, the powers were against us," Sister Ardeth Platte, 66, said in an interview from jail in early April. "We weren't surprised by the verdicts. We got back to the jail and turned on the television, which had all the pictures of children being killed in Iraq. This is all wrong. You can't drop a bomb on a city and kill children. This is exactly our defense. Those missiles are on high alert."

Sister Platte said she does not expect U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn will show lenience at the sentencing. Having already spent six months behind bars, Sister Platte said "it's really, really hard. It's sacred time, but " difficult sacred time."

She said the three are responding to thousands of letters and are trying to "motivate people to get out into the streets, to continue our ongoing civil disobedience."

The pronouncement of the guilty verdict electrified the courtroom. The three nuns, Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte immediately began singing "Rejoice in the Lord, above, again I say rejoice."