Ploughshares Update (3 nuns and Catholic Worker 5)

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Saturday July 26, 2003 02:13

by Deirdre Clancy - Catholic Worker

Today the ploughshares Dominican nuns Jackie Hudson, Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte were sentenced to 18 months, two years and nine months, and three years and five months respectively after a ploughshares action in Colorado. The Catholic Worker five also had a bail hearing today in the Dublin Circuit Court, obtaining a significant relaxation in bail conditions but not a trail date as expected.

Today (July 25th) the Pitstop Ploughshares group (Karen Fallon, Ciaron O’Reilly, Damien Moran, Nuin Dunlop and Deirdre Clancy) appeared in the Dublin Circuit court for a bail hearing and, supposedly, to receive a trail date. After a vigil on O’Connell Street in remembrance of Iraqi casualties in the ongoing war of aggression, we marched with other activists in single file to the four courts carrying symbols of our opposition to the belligerence of the coalition forces. This occurred on a day when the Pentagon took the grotesquely triumphalist (and yet somehow also desperate) step of publishing pictures of two dead bodies from a shoot-out in which a fourteen-year-old child was also killed. Due to appear at 10:30am, the hearing didn’t occur until the end of the morning, due to a delay on the part of the Ennis guards in providing a copy of our new bail conditions. After much to-ing and fro-ing by our harassed legal team between fax machines and photocopiers, the hearing finally occurred.

Judge Hogan was initially puzzled that the case had come before him, and our counsel Giollíosa Ólideadha explained the fact of our transfer to Dublin. Although the judge was initially concerned with the ‘looseness’ of the first proposed bail change, which specifies that we now need only sign on at the Garda Stations twice weekly on separate days, but doesn’t specify the days, he agreed to the proposed amendments to our bail conditions. Technically, it seems, we can now sign on at five to midnight and five past midnight, and that’s it for the week. We also may be allowed into County Clare as long as we seek advance permission from the Superintendent in Ennis. (I’m not sure about braving a phone call to our good friend the Super in order to obtain this privilege, though.)

Other issues discussed include items of disclosure sought by our solicitor Joe Noonan – which I won’t go into detail about - and the question of legal aid for senior counsel, which we hadn’t been granted up until today. Aspects of this latter issue still remain open. We are up in court for mention again on November 3rd, which means that our trial will almost definitely be in 2004. (According to Judge Hogan, the list of cases to be dealt with in the District Court right now is ‘bulging’.)

Thanks to all of the activists who accompanied us today, to our legal team and to our Iraqi friend Zahir, who provided some stirring thoughts before we entered the court.

Sentencing of Ploughshares Nuns

On a separate but related note, there was a vigil outside the US Embassy today from 4pm in solidarity with the three Dominican nuns in the US, who faced sentencing today for a ploughshares action on a nuclear missile silo in Colorado last autumn. The vigil was attended by Nuin Dunlop (the only Pitstop Ploughshares person allowed to go within the vicinity of the US Embassy) and other activists.

Today Jackie Hudson (68) was sentenced to 18 months, Carol Gilbert (55) to two years and nine months and Ardeth Platte (66) to three years and five months. All were convicted in April of obstructing the national defense and damaging government property.

The nuns cut a fence and walked onto a Minuteman III silo site last October. They pounded the silo with hammers and painted a cross on it with their blood. Officials said they caused at least $1,000 in damage. They had until August 25 to report to prison but chose to go immediately.

Before sentencing, the nuns defiantly told a crowd of 150 supporters outside the courthouse they were not afraid of prison. "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. 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?"

All three women are longtime anti-war activists. Platte and Gilbert lived in Jonah House, a Baltimore activist community founded by the late peace activist Philip Berrigan. Hudson lived in a similar community in Poulsbo.

For more on ploughshares, see www.ploughsharesactions.org