Dominican activist released from jail; she refuses to pay restitution

Published: 2005-03-14

POULSBO, Wash. (CNS) -- Undeterred by more than two years in prison, Dominican Sister Jackie Hudson returned home March 6 determined to continue her peace activism while refusing to pay restitution money to the federal government because she said it would be spent on violent means. Sister Hudson and two other Dominican sisters were ordered to pay $3,080 for cutting through a 32-foot section of fence on Oct. 6, 2002, to gain access to a Minuteman III missile silo site in northern Colorado as part of an anti-nuclear weapons protest. They hammered on the silo cover and the adjoining tracks, and poured their own blood in the form of a cross, before they were arrested. They were later convicted on sabotage charges and sentenced to 30 to 40 months in prison. Sister Hudson, 70, the first of the three to be released, served 26 months of her 30-month sentence, receiving time off for good behavior. She was released March 4.

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