Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
really offsets
let's go to this story love a Bradley Manning
as you know his trial was ongoing sentencing was taking place through the
sentencing hearing for the past week and a half
he was facing
in the end sixty years in prison
for being convicted of twenty offenses including
violations of the Espionage Act although
not specifically not aiding and abetting
the enemy and embezzlement
up government property he was also convicted
wrongfully and wantonly causing publication have intelligence belonging
to the united states on the internet knowing the intelligence would be
accessible to the enemy
to the prejudice of good order and discipline
in the armed forces or Ave nature to bring discredit upon
the armed forces he has been sentenced to 35 years
in prison just so you know
that is thirty-five years more then the architects
a bar torture policy that is substantially more than those who
actually
executed and carried out our policy of torture
I it is significantly longer than anyone involved in
Wall Street it is longer then
many a *** convictions he's 25 years old
he has been in confinement now
for almost thirteen hundred days
he received a 112 days sentencing credit
when the judge found that he had been subject to
what the judge considered
unlawful pretrial punishment during his nine months of confinement at the break
and the Marine Corps Base at Quantico remind you that the
a UN special rap part or on
torture found that his confinement nearly amounted to torture
but was certainly a cruel and inhuman my personal opinion that
not unlike the ellsberg case which you know was not
some was never completed
there was a mis-trial found because I love misbehavior by the government in
breaking into is
psychologist's office then Temptu get
information on him the fact that
Bradley Manning was arguably tortured
in arguably suffered cruel and unusual punishment in his pre-trial cat
the imprisonment should be enough
enough do have released him on time served
at the very least the Eighth Amendment for the Constitution
reads the sleek
excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted
those cruel and unusual punishments have already been inflicted
fun Bradley Manning and
the only remedy
for that at this point would be for his immediate release
the judge saw differently a
clemency and Parole Board
can review his case after year
and decide to offer him clemency
he will be people are anticipating
that he will serve up to a eight years
unless he receives clemency
he I should say he has to serve up to eight years
before he's eligible for parole
unclear at this point if the the Manning
defense team will appeal
outside of the army Criminal Courts of Appeals
I am if lawyers do
decide to take an attempt to appeal to the Court of Appeals Federal Court of
Appeals in the a of the armed forces
and then possibly the Supreme Court I
there's good behavior credits
and a as Kevin just all reports the government in its ends in closing
argument on august nineteenth argued
there is a value in deterrents your honor
this court must send a message to any soldier contemplating stealing
classified information on national security crimes
that undermine the entire system must be taken seriously
punish a private first class Manning's actions your honor
and
my understanding is that the materials that
he disseminated he gave to the press
because certainly in this case at the very least regardless serve
%uh any different opinions that may be out there the government was quite
explicit in saying it'd make a difference if you gave it a week a week
so if you gave it in New York Times
so that was not at issue here so by disseminating this information leaking
this information
whistleblowing to the press
that information it's my understanding would be in the public domain
within thirty five years
just a a I guess an ironic
coincidence perhaps not a coincidence
I am the point here though is that we see
a a tremendous amount vindictiveness
by the government and
so much of what we've been talking about this weekend but what is
was taken place in terms of the national security state
and establishment I am
has really been about intimidation
holding I am Glenn Greenwald's partner
at the airport for nine hours was completely
and end in nearly exclusively about intimidation
if they want those materials that he was holding they could have taken them
the quite quickly they held them for exactly as long
the outer limits of what their able to detain someone
at Heathrow under that section seven law
in Britain cost