COMMENTARY | Do you know who Bonnie Urfer is? You should. This woman has done what most people are too afraid, or unable, to do. She has sacrificed her own life in the hopes that others will have a better one. In return, Urfer has been incarcerated numerous times. The Wisconsin anti-nuclear activist is now 59 years old, and was sentenced to eight months in prison Wednesday.
Urfer is a 25-year employee of nonprofit nuclear watchdog group Nukewatch. Her conviction stems from a sit-down protest that occurred in Oak Ridge, Tenn., on July 5, 2010, at the Y12 nuclear weapons complex.
Judge Bruce Guyton gave Urfer the maximum sentence while releasing two of her co-defendants, who were in their 80s, giving them credit for the three months they had already served. Urfer has already been incarcerated for four months, but Guyton is giving her the stiffer sentence because of her 50 prior convictions.
Guyton stated he believes Urfer needs to be separated from her community, yet he failed to mention that all of her convictions were for non-violent protests against nuclear power or weapons. Urfer is working tirelessly to rid our nation of nuclear arms. She stated that she has met many people who worked at Y12 who died or became seriously ill only to have the government pay $150,000 for a life loss while Judge Guyton and others insist they are safe.
Urfer lives her life to help others. How many of us are willing and able to say we could do that? Not many. She has insisted that she will also fight the crime she has seen behind the walls of prison so her time isn’t wasted. She has also brought to light some horrible inequities for some of the women who have been imprisoned with her, including one woman who walked around for a month with a broken arm before she was finally taken to the hospital.
In her statement to the court, The Nuclear Register reports Urfer ended with, “How many deaths will it take to convince the court that harm is imminent? Howne who was forced to walk around with a broken arm for a month before she was finally taken to the hospital. This many deaths will it take for the court to name it a crime? For me, it takes one.”
Courageous people like Urfer fought for our country in the American Revolution, they fought for workers’ rights, for the rights of blacks, for the rights of women, and the list goes on. If only we had more like her, the world would be a better place.