Fri, Jun 10, 2011
Wonderful news!!! Jackie Hudson was officially released today from
prison pending her sentencing, and is currently at the University of
medical care (imagine that). Sue Ablao is by her side this very
moment, and we can all FINALLY rest assured that she is getting the
care she needs, and will soon be on the mend and on her way back to
I will refer you all to the Disarm No Plowshares Blog where I've just
posted the latest update by Joe Power-Drutis for all the details. I
am thankful to Joe for his faithful reportage throughout Jackie's
ordeal; he hasn't missed a beat. I am also thankful to the
physicians, attorneys (especially Brad Henry, Jackie's primary legal
counsel) and everyone who called, faxed or emailed while Jackie was in
the Ocilla House of Horrors, and to all who have offered to help in so
many ways.
Here, also, is an article that you won't find online about Jackie and
the Ocilla debacle.
Happy Day,
Leonard Eiger subversivepeacemaking@gmail.com
http://media.iadsnetwork.com/quickpagepdf/pdfs/470000/470695.pdf
Ill prisoner nun causes web uproar
By DUSTY VASSEY
The Ocilla Star newspaper, June 8, 2011
The health of a nun incarcerated at the
caused a minor uproar on the internet and across the country last week.
Sister Jackie Hudson, not to be confused with Ocilla's own Jackie
charges. Hudson, 76, and 12 other anti-nuclear activists were arrested
last year for trespassing on the government's Y-12 National Security
Complex in
site where uranium was enriched for Little Boy, the atomic bomb
dropped on
Hudson, a Catholic nun of the Dominican Order and a native of
Washington, is a member of the Plowshares Movement, an anti-nuclear
weapons movement which gained prominence in the 1980s.
Alice Zillah, a friend of Hudson's, who is also involved with the
movement, said the goal of the activists is to attract attention to
their cause and pressure the
non-proliferation treaties though non-violent actions. When asked
whether she believes nuclear weapons help protect the country, Zillah
said the use of nuclear weapons has led to many near-catastrophes and
she said there have been too many close calls for her to feel safer
because of them.
"It may sound naive, but I want to live in a world where we don't have
to threaten ourselves with mass murder," Zillah said.
Hudson and her fellow sisters, Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert, have
been guests of the federal government before. The three nuns
reportedly broke into the site of a
2002 where they staged a "symbolic disarmament" by beating on the silo
with hammers and painting a cross on the silo with their own blood.
They were each convicted of obstructing national defense and damaging
government property and spent time in prison for their crimes.
The demonstration for which the 13 people were arrested last year was
held in part to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Plowshares
Movement. They reportedly climbed under a fence during their protest,
as they tried to urge the government to stop enriching uranium at the
Y-12 complex.
Twelve of the Y-12 demonstrators were convicted in May and could serve
up to one year in prison for the misdemeanor offense of trespassing.
Seven of those convicted, including
refused to accept supervised release and were instead taken into
custody until their sentencing. Those seven prisoners were transferred
in May to the detention facility outside Ocilla.
May 28, a phone call from Gilbert to an activist named Joe
Power-Drutis and another call to Power-Drutis from someone who knew
someone in the same cell block as
concern, internet posts and calls to the detention center.
According to an internet post by Power-Drutis on the Disarm Now
Plowshares site dated May 29, he was told
chest pain, shortness of breath and pressure over her chest area. He
wrote that "nothing was being done for her medically." Power-Drutis
and others called attorneys, medical doctors, the
Service, the ICDC and the
get help for
"near wall of non information and an unreceptive response from both
nurse and guards" at the detention facility as they tried to get
In another post dated May 30, Power-Drutis said that the detention
center staff assured him that
described the prison as being "completely uncooperative" and was
harshly critical of the detention center.
"This maltreatment must not stand," he wrote. "The people operating
Irwin County Detention Center, a private, for profit prison, must be
held accountable for their actions. If this is how they treat Jackie,
someone with a broad base of support, I can only imagine the
mistreatment of a vast number of prisoners who have no one to advocate
on their behalf."
Meanwhile, concerned internet posts began springing up at sites like
Disarm Now Plowshares and the
31, Power-Drutis posted again, with good news.
"I have been in awe by the incredible outpouring of love and concern
for Jackie in this terrible time," he wrote. "The fact that this
community of spirit mobilized as quickly and powerfully as it did made
all the difference.
"Due to your efforts Jackie was taken to the Emergency Room early this
morning. During her stay at the
symptoms suggested heart failure this serious condition was ruled out;
therefore she can sleep tonight knowing that her heart is not the
problem."
A call and an e-mail alerted The Ocilla Star to the situation with
Hudson, and Editor Diane Pless passed on the information to Irwin
County Commission Chairman Joey Whitley on the afternoon of June 1.
Whitley contacted
the prison and were satisfied
Power-Drutis drove from Knoxville, TN, to Ocilla during the weekend
and visited some of the demonstrators incarcerated at the ICDC. He
wrote June 5 that
sent to the hospital again to be checked for pulmonary embolus, which
is a blockage of the main artery of the lung. He wrote that she is
being housed in the medical room at the detention center.
"A few days ago Jackie was once again in communication with her
attorney and understands he is willing to approach the court and
request her release from her present confinement for medical reasons,"
Power-Drutis wrote. "I am told she will make her decision in the next
few days."
The
For more information on the anti-nuclear weapons movement and updates
on the Y-12 demonstrators held at the ICDC, visit the web site
http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com/
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