A 70-year-old Roman Catholic nun who was arrested during a demonstration at a nuclear weapons site on the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima has been sentenced to 20 days in jail.
Elizabeth Ann Lentsch, of Oak Ridge, also known as Sister Mary Dennis Lentsch, was convicted of obstructing a roadway in front of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant on Saturday, culminating a demonstration by about 200 peace activists.
Most of the work to build the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima was performed at the plant.
Lentsch was sentenced Tuesday following a minutes-long bench trial before Anderson County General Sessions Judge Ron Murch.
Lentsch has served two stints in federal prison in Lexington, Ky., for acts of civil disobedience. She spent two months there for trespassing at the Y-12 plant in 2002 and six months last year for trespassing at Fort Benning, Ga.
Four other demonstrators arrested Saturday pleaded guilty to misdemeanor citations. Three were fined $25 as first-time offenders and given suspended 30-day jail sentences.
The fourth, Elizabeth V. Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C., admitted she’d been previously convicted of a similar offense. She was sentenced to five days in jail and given credit for the three days she’s been locked up since her arrest.