Sister Megan Rice may be an octogenarian and a nun, but that hasn’t stopped her from multiple acts of civil disobedience. And now she’s going to jail for three years for them.
Rice, 84, broke into the Oak Ridge nuclear reservation in July 2012 along with two other protestors as part of an anti-nuclear protest. The three spent the two hours causing an estimated $8,500 worth of damage, hammering at, spray-painting and throwing human blood on its wall. When they were finally caught by a guard, they «offered him food and started singing,» according to the BBC.
Rice was convicted last year and faced 30 years in jail. She asked the judge not to show her any mercy.
«Please have no leniency on me,» Rice said. «To remain in prison for the rest of my life would be the greatest honor you could give me.»
She got 35 months, though prosecutors recommended six to nine years, which the judge said was «overkill.» The other two protestors were sentenced to five years and two months.
This won’t be Rice’s first time in the slammer. She’s been arrested over 40 times and served six months for another protest. She told the New York Times the experience was a «great eye-opener.»
Sister Megan is a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.
An 84-Year-Old Nun Has Been Sentenced To Three Years in Jail – The Wire.