three old ladies, a US attorney and some fantastic quotes

Some of you may remember me blogging previously about the nuns of Jonah House. These three Dominican nuns broke into a nuclear bomb silo as part of a peaceful protest. As a result they were sentenced and imprisoned for several months - bear in mind that these nuns are in their 70's...

They were released on license on condition of payment of a fine. Having taken on a vow of poverty, they refused to pay the fine - which they said would only go to fund a politico-military complex which they did not support in any case.

This January, their probation officer asked to be removed from the case so he could supervise someone who actually represented a threat to the nation. The nuns had deliberately violated the terms of their release - such as getting permission to leave the state where they lived in order to deliver tins of food to military families (which they were trying to do instead of paying the fine. The court said it did not accept tins of food against payment of a fine. Which had to be one of the most hilarious statements a court has ever made).

The US Attorney responded to the statement from the probation department thus:

As noted, the probation department has essentially asked the Court to end its responsibility of supervising the defendants as it is a waste of time. For most of their adult lives, the defendants have been wasting the time of the government at a cost to taxpayers and to hundreds of federal and state employees who have better things to do than facilitate the defendants' repeated, tiring construction of their soapbox.

If I have a headstone, I would like to have that carved over my grave.

One day the government will learn - it is impossible to punish people who are protesting against a greater evil and for whom imprisonment is not any kind of deterrent.