CodePink Co-founder in the Pokey

CodePink co-founder Diane Wilson has concluded her fall book tour – promoting her autobiographical An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas – with a stint in the Victoria Co. Jail. She's serving a 150-day sentence for criminal trespassing charges stemming from an incident in 2002, when she climbed a Dow Chemical plant tower and hung a banner from it reading "Justice for Bhopal." Bhopal, India, is the site of the 1984 Union Carbide chemical leak that killed thousands.

Warren Anderson – then CEO of Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow – was subsequently arrested by the Indian government. After his company posted the $5 million bail, he left India, never returning to face culpable homicide charges, despite India's extradition requests. In her continuing effort to draw out the aging fugitive, Wilson recently posted his arrest warrant on his lawn, along with a sign that read, "Wanted for homicide in India." She also offered to turn herself in for the trespassing charges if Anderson would return to India to face his day in court.

Before that day could come, however, Wilson attended a Dec. 5 Tom DeLay fundraiser in Houston, where, during a speech by Vice-President Dick Cheney, she unfurled yet another discomfiting banner: "Corporate greed kills – from Bhopal to Baghdad." Her subsequent arrest landed her in a Harris Co. jail for five days before her transfer to Victoria Co. for the criminal trespassing sentence. Once she finishes her sentence – she'll get out on March 18, if she exhibits good behavior – she'll face charges in Houston for the DeLay infraction, summarized by her lawyer, Greg Gladden, as "apparently impersonating a dead Republican."

Those who'd like to support Wilson's continued advocacy work can donate to her cause through the Environmental Health Fund: 617/524-6018.