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An appeals court has overturned charges of sabotage against Sister Megan Rice, 85 years old, and two men who broke into a nuclear facility as part of a protest. The Circuit Appeals Court stated that “Congress never intended to punish individuals whose sole intent was to spread a message of peace, which is far from trying to disrupt nuclear defense systems.”
The nun and the two men are still guilty on lesser charges, but they may be released with time served. They’ve been in prison since 2014, with Rice in a severely overcrowded facility in Brooklyn, where she shares a single room with 111 other women. The NY Daily News ran an expose referring to Rice’s prison as a “hellhole”.
The BBC and other outlets have all reported on this latest development.
What do you think about the punishment? Does it seem cruel and unusual? Would you risk this type of consequence to make a similar statement?
Posted by David Streever