J25 Ploughshares Communities Back in front of the Courts

by Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares - Colorado,USA Fri Jul 25, 2003 23:48

**Letters of support to individual nuns c/-Plowshares, Jonah House,1301 Moreland Ave. Baltimore,MD21216 USA


Today, Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson were sentenced
for breaking into a federal missile silo in Colorado, smearing it with their
own blood and pounding on it with hammers. The Dominican nuns said the act
symbolized that they would rather pour out their own blood than have U.S.
weapons take the blood of another.

The day began in Colorado with a press conference in front of the Federal
building at which the nuns read their pre-sentencing statements; they would
not read them in court. Instead, in solidarity with women around the world,
they decided to dress as Women in Black and remain mute in the courtroom.
It proceeded with the Judge deciding to consolidate the sentencings -
despite his prior refusal of that motion.

Once in court, arguments were made by both sides on the length of sentence.
The prosecutor and the probation office requested sentences ranging from 5
to 10 years in prison. The nuns' attorneys argued that when the guidelines
for sabotage were set to mandate lengthy sentences, the actions defined
under "sabotage" in no way included what the nuns did. The legal precedent
is that of Daniel Sicken and Sachio Ko Yin who, some years back, were
sentenced in the same court for a similar action. Their judge - Judge
Miller - granted downward departure at sentencing saying: "There is sabotage
and then there is sabotage!" The prosecution appealed the judge's decision
and lost; the 10th circuit court of appeals upheld the judge's decision. The
damage in the prior case was far more substantial than that of which the
nuns are convicted.

Sr. Jackie Hudson was sentenced to 30 months in prison
Sr. Carol Gilbert was sentenced to 33 months in prison
Sr. Ardeth Platte was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

In addition, a period of 3 years supervised release follows their prison
sentences; no fines were imposed but restitution of $3,081.04 was. They were
ordered to self-surrender but refused and were taken immediately into
custody. Supporters in the packed courtroom chanted: "Close the silos; free
the nuns!" and the courtroom was cleared.

The day began in Baltimore with reading and reflecting on the scripture
passages for today. The passage from 2 Corinthians 4: 8ff was a gift for
today; it reminded us that the nuns (and through and in solidarity with
them, we ourselves) are afflicted, but not constrained; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed.

We are grieved that the nuns will have to serve that kind of time for an
action that was totally symbolic; but we are relieved that it is not the 8 -
10 years that the prosecution was demanding. The nuns were and are prepared
to accept prison, however much they - and we - believe that they committed
no crime, certainly no major crime. "We had no criminal intent at any
level," said Sr. Ardeth Platte, a member, with Sr. Carol Gilbert, of Jonah
House. "We accept the consequences of our actions joyfully…I know it will be
a long journey, but we're not afraid." Platte said.

The sisters believe nuclear weapons are the "taproot" of social and economic
injustice because the billions of dollars spent on them could go to programs
for the poor and needy. Standing against militarism, they say, is a way to
challenge skewed priorities that cause orphanages and soup kitchens to exist
in the first place.

The Nuns' "crimes" revealed that we in the U.S. accept rule by our own "evil
tyrants who threaten and use weapons of mass destruction and ignore
international law." Even more shocking to the current "might makes right"
school of "law," the Nuns showed that together we could nonviolently
accomplish complete nuclear disarmament one weapon at a time starting with
open declaration and inspection.

We have no news yet of where the nuns will be taken. We expect they will
spend some time in a local or transitory facility before being taken to the
federal prisons where they will serve their time. We will be in touch when
we have an address for them.

Below are the statements Carol and Ardeth made this morning in front of the
courthouse, having determined not to speak in court.

SENTENCING STATEMENT - SISTER CAROL GILBERT, OP
JULY 25, 2003

For many months I have pondered what to say, if anything at all. St.
Francis once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words."
It seems that today a few words are necessary.
For the past ten months we have tried to cooperate with these courts. We
have been asking since day one - what are the charges? What is Title 18,
U.S. Code,
Section 2155, if not sabotage?
We are not saboteurs. Today, we ask no more questions.
We know something is very wrong with a system that can incarcerate us for
years in prison for inspecting, exposing and symbolically disarming
America's Weapons of Mass Destruction.
We know we should be acquitted for upholding the United States Constitution
that declares all laws and treaties to be the supreme laws of the country.
Article 6, Section 2 of the United States Constitution "declares this
constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in
Pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made under the
Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land and the
Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution
or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
We should be acquitted for upholding International laws which this court has
deemed unnecessary but which is bound to enforce under Article 6, Section 2
of the U.S. Constitution. It hurts to hear the prosecutor continue to call
Frances Boyle a "self-professed international law guru."
We should be acquitted for upholding the highest law - God's Law.
Judge Blackburn talked a lot about law. He didn't want this to be a
political trial but a case about law. So did we. That was our deepest hope.
But, we were not the ones that turned this into a political trial nor will
we make of ourselves political prisoners - that will be the prosecutor
and judge.
We have read in the press and in our pre-sentencing reports that the lengthy
sentence is for deterrence - both for ourselves and others.
But, what the government fails to recognize is that long prison sentences
will only energize the movement. As a tee shirt in upstate New York reads,
"You can jail the resister but not the resistance." We will not be silenced.
During our seven months in the Clear Creek County Jail we received thousands
of letters from the United States and international community, over a
thousand signatures from people who stand in solidarity with us and more
than 650 letters were sent to the judge asking for compassion and justice.
There have been four plowshares actions since ours - one of them in the
United States.
This Memorial Day, four plowshares activists enfleshed the Isaiah and Micah
prophecies on the USS Philippine Sea in New York harbor during fleet week
naming themselves Riverside Ploughshares. No charges were filed.
No, Judge Blackburn needs no more words from us. Judge Blackburn needs no
character witnesses this morning. What Judge Blackburn needs is to listen to
his God. He needs to heed these words from one of my church's social justice
documents, Gadium et spes. # 16. "Deep within their consciences men and
women discover a law which they have not laid upon themselves and which
they must obey. It's voice, ever calling them to love and to do what is good
and to avoid evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun
that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity
rests, in observing the law, and by it they will be judged. Their conscience
is people's most secret core and their sanctuary. There they are alone with
God whose voice echoes in their depths."
Tomorrow, non-violent citizens in Colorado will inspect and expose
America's weapons of mass destruction, the Minuteman 111 , with others
joining in solidarity in other states and others exposing other weapons
systems at other sites.
Resistance will not be deterred. You cannot silence truth. Truth will be
spoken. Law will be upheld.
Judge Blackburn and the prosecutor need to reflect on the story in the Acts
of the Apostles of Gamaliel - Chapter 5 vv. 17-42.
Gamaliel was a Pharisee, a member of the Council, and a teacher of the Law.
He was highly respected by all the people.
As Peter and the other apostles were taken to the Council and high-priest,
Gamaliel cautioned the council not to take any action against the men. He
said, "if what they have planned and done is of human origin it will
disappear, but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them."
Someday history will prove what we did on the early morning of October 6,
2002 - inspecting, exposing and symbolically disarming a Minuteman 111, a
weapon of mass destruction was legal.
Until that day I will continue being led where I would rather not go. I will
continue to resist with every fiber of my being so that not one child will
ever ask, "Why were you complicit?" .
Lastly, a few words about fear. I don't fear going to prison. I don't fear
loss of freedom to move about. I don't even fear death. The fear that fills
me is not having lived hard enough, deep enough and sweet enough with
whatever gifts God has given me.
The demons are banished by light and like the prophet Micah, this is what
God asks of us, only this - " To act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk
humbly with our God."
There is a story told of Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit priest, prophet and friend
that he was once asked to give the commencement address at a prestigious
university. He stood up, walked to the podium and said, "Know where you
stand and stand there" and then he sat down. My friends, "know where you
stand and stand there." (Bow)


ELOCUTION AT SENTENCING BY ARDETH PLATTE, O.P.
In front of the Federal District Court House on July 25, 2003

While we were at home at Jonah House, we opened our liturgy with the music,
"Here I am God. Is it I God? I have heard you calling in the night. I
will go God, if You lead me. I will hold your people in my heart ." We
closed the liturgy with: "Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come
follow Me and I will give you rest." Faith and the words of the stanzas to
these hymns record key notes in my journey of life - in waging peace, led
on a quest
for a world without war ever again,
in an attempt to stop the crimes and sins of government in my name,
in disarming weapons of mass destruction and stopping the merchant- sales
of the killing machines and technology sold to other nations, and calling
for a design of a global economy that will assure people in the entire world
all basic human necessities of food, shelter, education and health care,
etc.

With a vision for disarmament, a mandate to speak truth, and a mission to
halt the sinfulness, illegality and criminality being touted in my name, I
march to the Drummer of my soul Who instills faith rather than fear, trust
not hopelessness, and love instead of hatred and enemy relationships made
through endless threats, innuendos, propaganda, and permanent warmaking.

This journey has included numerous direct actions over decades: forums,
vigils, lobby, processions, demonstrations, boycotts, and civil resistance
in various areas of the country. Our social analysis, along with the need
to unmask urgent and sometimes secretive matters, has led me into nonviolent
symbolic public actions of resistance, such as:
1. Christ lives, disarm! Easter Sunday, 1992...entered into a nuclear
bunker.
2. Weep for Children Plowshares,1996...at the launching of the 18th Trident.
3. Gods of Metal Plowshares, 1998...bomb bay area of a B-52 used in Iraq.
4. Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares, 2000...the Milstar receiver and an
F-18 used in bombing Iraq.
5. Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II, 2002...Minuteman III
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile at N8, threatened and prepared to be
used.

Sisters Carol, Jackie and I believe that we had a responsibility to
inspect, expose, and symbolically disarm this weapon of mass destruction to
avert a crime of our government and uphold the laws of the United States,
not break them. Don't people claim today that the citizens of Germany
should have blocked the trains carrying people to the crematoriums,
dismantled the ovens, or done something to stop the mass murder of people by
Hitler? How will future generations judge all of us?

I find the charges in the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II bogus.
Ours was a simple, measured, nonviolent, symbolic action wherein the
liturgical rituals were crystal clear.
What were the fears within the prosecutor to call for an "in limine" motion
that silenced us on all the laws so pertinent to the threats to use the
Minuteman III? What fears were within the judge to grant the silencing?
Being stripped of our law defenses made the trial a farce.

The elements of the charges were not substantiated beyond a reasonable
doubt by the prosecutor. The jury did not recognize the ongoing change in
the wording of the charges throughout the trial: from an indictment under
sabotage by a grand jury, citing a specific intent to obstruct the national
defense, then use of vandalism and trespass, and finally use of destruction
of national defense premises recorded on the verdict form. Even the
government's witnesses claimed under oath that the national defense was
never jeopardized. How can a national offensive first strike weapon be
launched as a national defensive weapon? Deliberation by the jury seemed
brief and without researching answers to the complexities in such a serious
case. Are we charged with sabatoge? Yes! Isn't that the reason I face 92
to 115 months in prison?

Could peacemakers lives be that expendable? Will the punitive measures
taken against dissenters, enforced under Patriot Bills I and II, be so harsh
that any lawlessness on the part of government officials will go
unchallenged in the future? Who will be courageous enough to reveal the
lies and stop the murderous conduct in Afghanistan and Iraq? Who will demand
an end to U.S. interventionism? Who will stand in behalf of the people
contaminated by depleted uranium? Who will be there for prisoners illegally
detained in Guantanamo? Who will teach the treaties and U. S. Constitution
and who will demand the implementation by every court of the land? Who will
bring nonviolence into the forefront for conflict-solving?

The sentencing consequences are exaggerated; the prosecutor and probation
offices' research is skewed. Why would multi-hundreds of letters and more
than 1,000 solidarity communications have no effect for downward departure?
Why has the prosecutor's statements to the press been considered
acceptable - that a long sentence for us will deter others. Four plowshare
actions have been carried out since ours - one on Memorial Day on the USS
Philippine Sea with the use of blood poured out on the bomb hatches and
hammers used in the same symbolic way? Yet no charges were brought forth.

How will we wage the struggle together to keep democracy alive, to bring
our nation from its killing mode to a life-giving mode, to keep the tenets
of the beatitudes, commandments and Sermon on the Mount practiced by the
nation as well as by us as individuals? Tomorrow's direct action at the
silos and bases to inspect, expose and demand disarmament is a bold and
worthy beginning. We join you in spirit with deepest gratitude. Whatever
sentence I receive today will be joyfully accepted as an offering for peace.
With God's help it will not injure my spirits. In the sacred moments or
years of imprisonment, I will remain with you in prayer and walk together
with you for the good of all humanity and creation. My love and gratitude
always.

by Chris Fri Jul 25, 2003 18:21

...of the court case??

by London Catholic Worker - London, England Thu Jul 24, 2003 14:36

London Catholic Worker will be holding a vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square from 6 p.m - 9 p.m. Friday July 25th.

The vigil will be in solidarity with the Sacred Earth & Space Plowshares being sentenced at this time in Colorado, USA.

Fr. Martin Newell, who served 9 months in prison for his 2000 Jubille Ploughshares disarmament of a nuclear comvoy vehicle parked at a RAF Base near Peterborough, will be attending the LOndon vigil.

by Fr. Sean Dermott Thu Jul 24, 2003 07:51

"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national
obligations of obedience. Therefore [individuals] have the duty to
violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from
occurring." The Nuremberg Tribunal 1945-1946.

by Ruairi Wed Jul 23, 2003 20:09

As I non-Catholic and a reluctant 'worker' I urge everyone to support, in whatever way, the Pitstop Ploughshares who went out of there way to commit a brave and worthwhile action at Shannon.

The Irish rogue state should be on trial but blantantly spitting on our constitution and the democratic desires of the people of Ireland. The arrogance and complacency of our 'leaders' is sickening and the Catholic Worker movement have been one of the few inspirational voices in resisting their assault on democracy, the search for global peace and justice, and a better way of living, being and thinking.

They should be applauded and supported in whatever way possible. That includes financially and by in doing solidarity for upcoming trials and promoting a broader resistance to this puppet state. Personally, I have failed to adhere to my own promises of support to them but I intend to up the anty, I urge others to do the same. These brave folks are facing up to 10 years inside whilst American imperialist planes land at Shannon airport on their way to continue the liberation of planet earth.

by not a catholic worker Wed Jul 23, 2003 19:21

like i sed i'm no CW but id don't see relevant question asking the anti-bin tax campaign if they are pro- or anti-abortion. it's not what they're campaigning on.

why don't you e-mail them if you really want to know, they put there e-mail address on there didn't they? or at least its on there website

asking on IMC seems like shit stirring.

by Copirineo Wed Jul 23, 2003 16:04

Put 'Catholic Worker' in the search box to find out.

by genuine question Wed Jul 23, 2003 15:15

are the catholic worker pro-life? by that i mean are you anti abortion. against a womans right to choose.

genuine question, not trying to stir shit, just interested in what your position is

by Pit Stop Ploughshares - Ireland Wed Jul 23, 2003 14:11

The five Ploughshares actvists were arrested in the early hours of Monday, Feb. 3rd at Shannon Airport after nonviolently disarming a recently repaired U.S. Navy war plane.

The five spent 4-11 weeks on remand in LImerick Prison, before accepting harsh bail conditions designed to restrict their ability to travel and organise.

The five were also subject to Aer Rianta civil injunctions that they have consistently refused to accept when served.

Three weeks after the Pit Stop Plughshares disarmament, 3 US corporations transporting some of the 50,000 U.S. troops travelling through Shannon to the war on Iraq pulled out of Ireland.

A government campaign of slander and false accuations has been waged against the
five.


WHO WE ARE
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* Deirdre Clancy (32) is an editor, writer and feminist activist with an
interest in faith-based resistance to various structures of social
control. She regards war as part of parcel of the system which demeans
women; legalizes corruption of many different forms; discriminates
against, locks up and labels the so-called "mentally ill", without
questioning the sanity of the military-industrial system in which we are
all complicit.

* Karen Fallon (30) is a Glaswegian-Irish peace activist. She is a
scientist and a Trident Ploughshares pledger. She has lived at the
Faslane Peace Camp for the past two years.

* Damien Moran (22) is from the Irish midlands. He spent three months in
Haiti recently doing voluntary development work. A qualified geography
and English teacher, he is currently studying theology and anthropology
as a seminarian in Dublin.

* Nuin Dunlop (31) is an American of Irish-Scots-East Band
Cherokee-Dutch descent. She has been working for several years in
community service; in the Catholic Worker, hospital chaplaincy, and with
the marginalised. She is a Catholic anarchist. Her activism stems from
the belief that the Creator breaths life through everyone: War is the
most serious violation of life. Born in the nation with the more weapons
of mass destruction than any other, she is moved to respond to the
current US-led assaults on life.

* Ciaron O'Reilly (42) is an Irish Australian. He is presently working
at a homeless shelter in Dublin and is long time Catholic Worker and
nonviolent resister. He was a member of the "ANZUS Ploughshares" which
disarmed a B-52 Bomber in upstate New York during the 1991 Gulf War. He was also a member of the "Jabiluka Ploughshares" that disabled uranium mining equipment in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1998.

by Pit Stop Ploughshares - Ireland Wed Jul 23, 2003 14:03

"Pitstop" Ploughshares

STATEMENT OF FAITH
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We come to Shannon Airport to carry out an act of life-affirming
disarmament in a place of preparations for slaughter.

Like the railway tracks that ran to the town of Auschwitz, the runway at
Shannon has been militarized for service on an assembly line of death.
The train tracks at Auschwitz brought people to their deaths, the runway
at Shannon brings death to the people. The Irish Government acts in
contravention of the Irish Constitution, International Law and divine
mandate to service U.S. military aircraft, troop and munition
deployments.

The U.S./British war on the Iraqi people, and for Iraqi resources, has
been long and varied.The U.S./U.K. military has claimed over 2 million
Iraqi lives
* in their financial and military support for the Saddam Hussein
regime in the '70's and '80's
* in their hi tech bombing campaign of 1991
* in the 12 years of crippling sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people
* and now their plans to conquer and occupy Iraq

US/UK weapons manufacturers also continue to fuel the daily grind of
death and destruction inflicted on the Palestinian people.



SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We come to Shannon Airport around the Feast of St. Brigid, to disarm and
disable the war machine. We hope to begin to take up the runway and
ground military aircraft. We hope to be joined in this act of
disarmament by those who encounter us. Citizens, police and soldiers
wielding hammers brought down the Berlin Wall; we hope all will pitch in
to take up this runway and ground planes servicing the war machine. We
find this easier to envision than the further slaughter of Iraqi
children that U.S. British and Irish governments wish us to consider.

We act inspired by Brigid and Irish traditions of healing and
peacemaking. We carry out Christ's commandment to "love our enemies" by
nonviolently resisting the slaughter of their children. We attempt to
enflesh the prophesy of Isaiah Ch 2 and Micah Ch 4 "to beat swords into
ploughshares".

We respond to the call of the prophets of Modern America. Catholic
Worker founder Dorothy Day, who encourages us "to fill the jails with
nonviolent resistance to war"; Martin Luther King, who warns us that we
are confronted by "a choice between nonviolence and nonexistence". Fr.
Daniel Berrigan, who observes: "We have assumed the name of peacemakers,
but we have been, by and large, unwilling to pay any significant price.
And because we want peace with half a heart and half a life and will,
the war, of course continues, because the waging of war, by its nature
is total - but the waging of peace, by our cowardice is partial."

by Sacred Earth & Space Plowshares - Colorado, USA Wed Jul 23, 2003 14:00

SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES II



On October 6, 2002, at 7:30 a.m., three Roman Catholic Dominican Sisters and members of the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares action in 2001, Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte, entered Minuteman missile silo site N-8 near Greeley, Colorado. Wearing white mop-up suits which said Disarmament Specialists and Citizens Weapons Inspection Team, they cut through two gates and entered the silo area. They hammered on the tracks used for the silo lids to open and on the silo itself. They also used their blood to make the sign of the cross on the tracks and on the silo. They then began defencing--cutting through the fence in three places. They concluded the witness with a liturgy.



By 8:30 a.m. military personnel arrived in humvees with machine guns pointed at them and they were placed under arrest. They were then taken to the Women's Detention Center in Greeley. They appeared in state court the next day and were charged with destruction of property--this charge was dropped when their case was transferred to federal court. On October 16, 2002, they appeared in Denver Federal Court and were initially charged with destruction of government property. Although she did not participate in the action due to her peace-work in Hebron with the Christian Peacemaker Team, Sr. Anne Montgomery signed the action statement.



In their statement they declared: We, women religious, come to Colorado to unmask the false religion and worship of national security so evident at Buckley AFB, in Aurora, the Missile Silos, and in Colorado Springs: Schreiver AFB (the Space Warfare Center), the Air Force Space Command Center at Peterson AFB, Cheyenne Mountain (NORAD) and the Air Force Academy. We reject the mission of these along with the US Space Command and Stratcom in Omaha, Nebraska...We act in the many names of God the Compassionate, ar-Rahim: our Life, our Peace, our Healer to transform swords into plowshares, our violence and greed into care for the whole community of earth and sky, not as masters but as servants and friends.



On October 24, they were arraigned in federal court in Denver and were given two charges: "Injury/Obstruction of National Defense of the US" which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, and Injury to Government Property of the US which carries a 10 year sentence and $250,000 fine.



Prior to trial, Judge Robert Blackburn denied the defendants pre-trial motions, one of which asked for a dismissal based on the legality of their actions under International Law. The Judge granted an in limine motion by the prosecutor, prohibiting the sisters from speaking about the moral and legal justification for their actions.



On April 7 a Denver jury found Sr. Carol Gilbert, Sr. Ardeth Platte and Sr. Jackie Hudson guilty of "interference, injury or obstruction" of National Defense materials and "depredation of government property" in excess of $1000.



Despite the courts attempts to suppress the truth of the action, the sisters' true motive and intent could not be concealed. At certain points in the trial they were able to powerfully convey the spirit of their witness.



Motions for a mistrial, a new trial and an acquittal were denied.



After conviction and facing the prospect of 6-8 years in prison, they were released from jail on April 30 on personal recognizance until their July 25 sentencing date.