James C. Goodale, who represented The New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case, is a First Amendment lawyer and author of Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles.

The verdict against Pfc. Bradley Manning sets a bad precedent. Despite the triviality of many, if not most, of Mannings leaks, the government wants to lock him up indefinitely. He has already agreed to 20 years in prison. That should be enough.

The former secretary of defense Robert M. Gates characterized Mannings leaks of diplomatic cables as trivial. In fact, it is hard to see which of Mannings leaks damaged national security.

More to the point, the leaks are generally given credit for, among other things, inspiring the Arab Spring. Others exemplify classic whistle-blowing, like the video showing an Army helicopter killing two Reuters reporters.

And it should be remembered, many of the leaks were thought important enough by El Pais, Le Monde, The Guardian, Der Spiegel and The New York Times to merit prominent coverage.

Despite all of this, the government has thrown the book at Manning. It wants its message to be clear: leak at your peril, no matter how beneficial the leak may be.

That message could have a lasting and harmful effect. While Mannings case seems unique, it certainly will not be the last time digital files are leaked. The next leaker could face an equally harsh prosecution and detention.

There is still a way out of this for the government. The military judge, Col. Denise Lind, could hand down a light sentence. This would be appropriate. The government should be required to distinguish between trivial leaks and those that truly damage national security. So far, it has not, and that has already set a bad precedent.

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Bradley Manning Prosecution Sets a Bad Precedent - NYTimes.com

"Two major precedents -- one encouraging, the other troubling -- emerge from today's conviction of Bradley Manning on espionage charges, but not on charges of aiding the enemy. One is about the definition of journalism, and all the attendant protections that are supposed to come with that profession in a democracy. The other is about who America's government defines as patriotic heroes and who it deems traitorous villains."*

Bradley Manning faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of espionage. But why? Why are the priorities of the American government to persecute a man who publicized very credible allegations of torture and war crimes rather than pursue those who committed those crimes? Isn't it a soldier's duty to report war crimes? Cenk Uygur makes the case for freeing Bradley Manning.

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Why Bradley Manning Should Go Free

Under POI, according to the defense website, Manning was required to eat all of his meals alone and could only eat his meals with a spoon. He was not allowed to speak with any prisoners. He was given a suicide mattress with a built-in pillow. He was given a tear-proof security blanket that was extremely coarse and led to rashes and carpet burns on Mannings skin. The blanket was stiff and would not contour to his body so it did not keep him warm. He was not allowed any personal items in the cell. He could only have one book or one magazine and when he was not reading the book or magazine would be taken away. It also was taken away each day before he went to sleep. He was not permitted to exercise in his cell. Any attempts to do push-ups or sit-ups would lead to officers ordering him to stop. Every night he went to sleep he had to strip down to his underwear and surrender his clothing to guards.

Manning had to request toilet paper when he needed to go to the bathroom. He would have to wait for guards to get around to providing this to him. No soap was in his cell. Sometimes when he wanted to wash his hands after using the bathroom, he would be able to, but sometimes he would not. No shoes were allowed to be worn. Initially, he was only allowed one hour of permitted correspondence a day. Then, after Oct 27, 2010, that changed to 2 hours/day.

Constantly, Manning was monitored. Guards checked on him every five minutes asking, Are you okay? Manning had to respond affirmatively each time and guards would take note of each exchange in log books. When guards could not see him clearly at night, like when he had his blanket up over his head or when he was curled up against the wall, the guards would wake Manning up and see if he was okay. And all of the lights were never turned off. There was also a fluorescent light in the hall outside of Mannings cell that was kept on during the night.

These conditions were in addition to the maximum custody conditions imposed, which included being placed in a cell directly in front of the guard post so he could be monitored at all hours of the day, having to wake up at 5 am in the morning, having to stay awake from 5 am to 10 pm every day and not being permitted to lie down or lean his back against the cell wall. He was permitted only 20 minutes of sunshine call where he would be brought to a small concrete yard, about half to a third of the size of a basketball court. In the yard, he could walk around with hand and leg shackles on, while a Brig guard walked at his immediate side. The guards gave him athletic shoes that had no laces and would fall of when he tried to walk. Manning chose to wear boots so his shoes would stay on while walking. He would typically walk in figure-eights and was not allowed to sit down or stay stationary during sunshine call.

By December 10, 2010, he earned a longer period of recreation: one hour each day. He could exercise and move around without shackles or a Brig guard at his side. There was exercise equipment he could access but he would not normally use it because guards would tell him he could not use certain equipment and much of it was unplugged or broken down.

Manning could have non-contact visits on Saturdays and Sundays between noon and 3 pm with approved visitors. During visits, he had to wear hand and leg restraints. He met his visitors in a small 4 by 6 foot room that was separated with a glass partition. His visits were monitored by the guards and they were audio recorded by the Brig. The recording equipment was added by Army CID after PFC Mannings transfer to the Quantico Brig. Contact visits with attorneys were not allowed. Any time he met with his attorneys, he wore shackles on his hands and feet. He was not permitted any work duty. When moved outside his cell, the whole brig would be placed on lockdown, and, while being moved, he was shackled with metal hand and leg restraints and accompanied by at least two guards.

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Bradley Manning - Current Events - Enter the Fray

(Newser) Bradley Manning felt he was female," and looked into changing his gender, his former counselor tells New York. Though the suspected WikiLeaker really wanted to do surgery, the counselor says, he was mostly afraid of being alone, being ostracized or somehow weird. Manning used the Internet as a release: Online he could be gay, patriotic, and powerful, too, writes Steve Fishman. But in real life, his gender struggles and wartime deeds made him "feel like a monster," he sometimes wrote.

Meanwhile, other soldiers started figuring me out, making fun of me, mocking me, harassing me, he IMed an online acquaintance. That led to "one or two physical attacks." He was deeply disturbed by his work in Iraq, particularly his role in providing information that led to an questionable killing. I was a *part* of something i was actively involved in something that i was completely against, he wrote. The month he contacted the counselor, November 2009, was the same month he allegedly allied himself with Julian Assange. (Read more Bradley Manning stories.)

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Bradley Manning Considered Switching His Gender

Theheadquarters of the Nobel Committee is in downtown Oslo on a street named after Henrik Ibsen, whose play An Enemy of the Peoplehas remained as current as dawn lightfallingon the Nobel building and then, hours later, ona Fort Meade courtroom whereBradley Mannings trialenters a new stage defense testimony in the sentencing phase.

Ibsens play tells ofmendacity and greed in high places: dangerous threats to public health. You might call the protagonist a whistleblower. Hes a physician who cant pretend that he hasnt seenevidence; herejects all the pleas and threats tostay quiet, to keep secret what the public has a right to know. He couldbe content to take an easy way, to let others suffer and die. But he refuses to just follow orders. He will save lives.There will be some dire consequences for him.

The respectable authorities know when theyve had enough. Thought crimescan betrivial but are apt to becomeintolerable if they lead to active transgressions. In the last act, our hero recounts: They insulted me and called me an enemy of the people. Ostracized and condemned, he offers final defiant words before the curtain comes down: I have made a great discovery. It is this, let me tell you that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.

Alone Bradley Manning will stand as a military judge proclaims a prison sentence.

As I write these words earlyMonday, sky is starting to lightenover Oslo. This afternoonIll carry several thousand pages of a petition filled with the names of more than 100,000 signers, along withindividual comments from tens of thousands of them to an appointment with the Research Director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Thepetitionurges that Bradley Manning be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Like so many other people, the signers sharethe belief of Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire who wrote this summer: I can think of no one more deserving.

Opening heart and mind to moral responsibility seeing an opportunity to provide the crucial fuel ofinformation for democracy and compassion Bradley Manning lifted a shroud and illuminated terribleactions of the U.S.s warfare state.He chose courage on behalf of humanity. He refused to just follow orders.

If theres one thing to learn from the last ten years, its that government secrecy and lies come at a very high price in blood and money, Bradley Manning biographer Chase Madar wrote. And though information is powerless on its own, it is still a necessary precondition for any democratic state to function.

Bradley Manning recognized that necessary precondition. He took profound action to nurture its possibilities on behalf of democracy and peace.

No doubta Nobel Peace Prize for Bradley Manning is a very long longshot. After all, four years ago, the Nobel Committee gave that award to President Obama,while he was escalating the war in Afghanistan, and since thenObamas dedication to perpetual war has become ever more clear.

Now, the Nobel Committee and its Peace Prize are in dire need of rehabilitation. Intruth, the Nobel Peace Prize needs Bradley Manning much more than the other way around.

No one can doubt thesincere dedication of Bradley Manning to human rights and peace. Buton Henrik Ibsen Street in Oslo, the office of the Nobel Committee is under a war cloud of its own making.

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death and Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with Americas Warfare State.

This article originally was published at Common Dreams.

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Memo From Oslo: If Peace Is Prized, A Nobel For Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning is the Bravest man in the Army

The U.S. Army private accused of providing secret documents to the WikiLeaks website pleaded guilty on Thursday to misusing classified material he felt should become public, but denied the top charge of aiding the enemy.*Bradley Manning is facing prosecution for giving military information to Wikileaks. Hes plead guilty to some charges. He maintains that he did release the information and that he did it because he wanted to help the country. What will happen with the other treasonous charges against him that could net a life sentence? Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

At the hearing, through his attorney Manning pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge, of aiding the enemy.

Manning, who has been jailed at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia for more than 1,000 days, could face life imprisonment if convicted of that charge at his June trial.

Under a ruling last month by Lind, Manning would have any sentence reduced by 112 days to compensate for the markedly harsh treatment he received during his confinement. Wow what a benevolent Judge. Bradley Manning is facing 20 YEARS and the judge is giving him a whole 112 days for being TORTURED. If this werent such a travesty I should be ROFLMAO! Harsh Treatment this is CALLED TORTURE!

Leaders of the free world! The shining light on the hill! How about the Manchurian Candidate, John McCain?What a freaking joke! Bradley Manning is not even been convicted, supposedly innocent until proven guilty, this is how we treat innocent people? While at Quantico, Manning was placed in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day with BORG agents checking on him every few minutes.

1. Solitary Confinement/Isolation

2. Humiliation Techniques

3. Sleep Deprivation

4. Sensory Deprivation

5. Stress Positions

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Bradley Manning Pleads Guilty Titania - the Open Source ...

Washington

A military judge ruled on Tuesday that a former Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive US documents to WikiLeaks was subject to improper treatment during a portion of his pretrial detention in a US Marine Corps lockup.

The judge, US Army Col. Denise Lind, said she would give former analyst Pfc. Bradley Manning credit for 112 days of time served off any potential future sentence.

But Judge Lind refused a defense request that she throw out all or part of the charges against Manning to punish the government for its misconduct.

Defense lawyers had asked the judge to dismiss the governments case against their client based on the unusually harsh treatment he faced in a detention facility at Quantico, Va., following his arrest in 2010 for allegedly facilitating the largest leak of classified documents in US history.

The defense had also asked, in the alternative, that the judge give Manning potential credit of 10 days off any future sentence for every day he spent under improper conditions of pretrial confinement.

Although prosecutors appear to have lost, the judges ruling marks a toothless victory for the defense. Manning is charged with violating 22 separate counts, including that he aided the enemy. The 25-year-old private is facing a potential sentence of life in prison.

In contrast to Linds 112-day determination, it is not uncommon for judges to allow defendants held while awaiting trial to receive full credit for the amount of time spent in pretrial detention. They typically receive that full credit even when they arent subject to what Lind determined were improper and punitive conditions of confinement in the Manning case.

The judge read her decision in open court. She said Mannings detention was more rigorous than necessary, according to the Associated Press. She also concluded that the governments treatment of Manning became excessive in relation to legitimate government interests.

Manning was held alone in a cell for nearly nine months and kept on a highly restrictive suicide watch for much of that time despite the recommendation of a mental health adviser that the watch be lifted and his conditions of confinement be eased.

Manning and his lawyers argued that the tough treatment was illegal punishment meted out by military officials who failed to honor the requirement that defendants be treated as innocent until proven guilty.

Detention officials defended the decision to maintain the suicide watch and other tough measures, despite the earlier recommendation that conditions be eased. They said months earlier the same mental health expert had made a similar recommendation that a prisoners watch status be downgraded. That prisoner committed suicide in the facility.

News of Mannings harsh treatment sparked protests at the gates of the Marine base at Quantico. In April 2011, he was moved to a medium-security pretrial detention facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Because of reports of his harsh treatment by the US military, Manning has attracted a significant following of supporters who view him as a crusading whistle-blower. Some expressed disappointment after the judges ruling.

She confirmed that Bradley was mistreated, and vindicated the massive protest that was required to stop the Marines at Quantico from torturing Bradley, said Jeff Paterson of the Bradley Manning Support Network.

Yes, 112 days is not nearly enough to hold the military accountable for their actions, he added, in a statement.

Mannings trial is set to begin in early March in a military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md.

Linds ruling came on the first day of a new round of pretrial hearings this week. At issue is whether jurors should be allowed to assess Mannings possible motives in deciding to leak certain documents.

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Defense lawyers say their client was careful to release only documents he believed would not damage US national security or otherwise aid Americas enemies.

The leaked documents included diplomatic cables, battle reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, and intelligence assessments of terrorism suspects being held at Guantnamo. They were subsequently released to the public on the WikiLeaks website.

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WikiLeaks: Bradley Manning was treated improperly in lockup ...