Chelsea Manning could face solitary confinement after an issue of Vanity Fair and outdated toothpaste were found in her cell.

Chelsea Manning, the soldier and Guardian columnist, has been denied access to a prison legal library days before a crucial hearing at which she will represent herself against charges including possession of unapproved reading material, according to a message posted to her official Twitter account at the weekend.

Related: Chelsea Manning may face solitary confinement for having Jenner Vanity Fair issue

The hearing is part of a legal process that could result in indefinite solitary confinement for Manning, for reported violations that also include storing a tube of expired toothpaste in her military prison cell.

The army has scheduled a hearing on the violations for Tuesday at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Manning is being held. She was given a 35-year sentence for having been the source of the vast leak of US state secrets to WikiLeaks.

Prison staff are now denying me access to the law library @ scheduled times w/only 2 days until my board, read the tweet, which was posted by supporters in contact with the prisoner.

A call to the US disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth was not immediately returned.

Earlier this week, Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is handling Mannings legal dispute with the US military over her health treatment in prison as a transgender woman, told the Guardian it seemed Manning was being unfairly targeted.

Chelsea has a growing voice in the public discussion, Stangio said, and it would not surprise me were these charges connected to who she is.

A petition calling on the military the drop charges against Manning for the reported prison infractions has gained 64,000 signatures, said Evan Greer, campaign director of the activist nonprofit Fight for the Future, one of four groups circulating the petition.

The groups plan to deliver the signatures to John McHugh, the secretary of the army, in Washington on Tuesday morning, in advance of Mannings hearing.

This is a hearing where shes facing a disciplinary board that has the power to essentially remand her to indefinite solitary confinement, Greer told the Guardian. She has to face this board without her attorneys present. And now shes being denied access to the resources to prepare a proper defense.

Those things being denied paint a really grim picture of what it looks like the militarys trying to do to her, and should arouse suspicion from the public and from journalists.

Manning has told supporters that property confiscated from her cell included the memoir I Am Malala by Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair, a novel featuring trans women called A Safe Girl to Love and the LGBT publication Out Magazine.

Also confiscated was a copy of the US Senate report on torture.

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Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army private convicted of leaking national security secrets, faces a hearing Tuesday for prison infractions that could result in solitary confinement. Manning, who was intelligence analyst Bradley Manning when plead USA TODAY

Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, then-Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, is escorted out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., on June 5, 2013.(Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP)

Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army private convicted of leaking national security secrets, faces a hearing Tuesday for prison infractions that could result in solitary confinement.

Manning, who was intelligence analystBradley Manning when arrested in 2010, is charged with disrespect of aprison officer and isaccused having books and magazines includingVanity Fair and Cosmopolitan, among other offenses.

Her lawyers sayshe is being harassed.

The ACLU said in an email thatManning was charged withdisrespect for requesting a lawyerwhen she felt she was being accused of misconduct. Other charges included disorderly conduct for sweeping food on the the floor, possessing an expired tube of toothpaste and possessing "prohibited property" some of themdocuments pertaining to trans rights and government transparency includingthe Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture.

Prison documents alsolistseveral books and magazines, including aCosmopolitanissue that included an interview with Manningand aVanity Fair issue withCaitlyn Jenner on the cover.

This kind of action has the potential to chill Chelseas speech and silence her altogether," ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio told USA TODAY. "We are hopeful that the prison will respond by dismissing these charges and ensuring that she is not unfairly targeted based on her activism, her identity, or her pending lawsuit.

The ACLU said prisondocuments confirm that all thecharges are classified as "serious." The ACLU said Manningcould face solitary confinementindefinitely.

The closed hearing will be held at the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.,where Manning is serving her sentence.The barracks referred inquiries to Army spokeswoman Tatjana Christian, whoreleased a statement providing few details about the case. A Disciplinary and Adjustment Board will decide the matter, the statement said.

"The Armyremains committed to a fair and equitable process in the adjudication ofadministrative matters for all of its soldiers," the statement said.

USA TODAY

Cost of treating transgender troops called negligible

Manning, 27, was arrested in May 2010,accused of violating the Espionage Act afterreleasing to the Wikileaks website about 700,000 classified or sensitive military and diplomatic documents.Charges against Manning ultimatelyincluded aiding the enemy, which could have brought the death sentence.Shepleaded guilty in February 2013 to 10 of the charges and months laterwas convicted of more charges but acquitted of aiding the enemy.

Her lawyers argued she had been disillusioned by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and believedthe documents, including diplomatic cables and military reports, should be seen by the public.She was sentenced a few weeks later, and the next day herlawyers issued a press release announcing that Manningwas a female and askingthat she be referred to as Chelsea and withfeminine pronouns.

Manning later soughthormone therapy and to be able to live as a woman. Transgender individuals were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military, and the Defense Department did not provide such treatment. The Army approved Manning's treatment early this year.

Last month,Defense Secretary AshCarter issued a memo to top military brass and civilians outlining his plan to protect transgender troops from being discharged and directingofficials to develop a plan within six months to incorporate those troops into the ranks.

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Chelsea Manning may be sent to solitary confinement

Chelsea Manning could face indefinite solitary confinementfor sweeping food onto the ground, having a tube of expired toothpaste and possessing a copy of the Vanity Fair issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover,according to one of her lawyers.

In August 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for handing thousands ofsensitive government documentsrelated to America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to WikiLeaks. Her supporters argue the documents shed light on wrongdoing by U.S. armed forces andhelped end the war in Iraq.

Now, one of Manning's lawyers,ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, said his client could be put in solitary indefinitely.

"This kind of action has the potential to chill Chelseas speech and silence her altogether," Strangio wrote in a statement to The Huffington Post. "We are hopeful that the prison will respond by dismissing these charges and ensuring that she is not unfairly targeted based on her activism, her identity, or her pending lawsuit.

Neither BuzzFeed,which reported the charges, nor Strangio has actually seen the charging document used to justify solitary confinement. But the ACLU said the pre-charging documents confirm the accusations. Manning read the charging document over the phone to Christina DiPasquale, associate vice president of media relations with FitzGibbon Media, who got the information to Strangio, BuzzFeed reports.

According to the document Manning read over the phone, she faces charges for acting in a "contemptuous manner by being disrespectful" to a corrections officer who confronted her about allegedly sweeping food on the floor during dinner on July 2. Manning asked for her lawyer when the guard tried to talk to her about her actions, triggering the disrespect charge, she told DiPasquale.

Then, on July 9, corrections officers allegedly found a tube of expired toothpaste in Manning's cell, which earned her a "medicine misuse" charge.

Guards also allegedly found the Vanity Fair issue, an issue of Cosmopolitan featuring an interview with Manning, and copies of The Advocate and Out Magazine. That reading material sparked a "prohibited property charge."

The document Manning read to DiPasquale noted that these charges could carry a sentence of indefinite solitary confinement. Manning has a hearing on the charges scheduled for August 18, according to BuzzFeed.

The charges against Manning help illustrate that solitary confinement isn't always used on the most violent or out of control inmates, as many opponents of the practice point out. Instead, inmates are often put in solitary for nonviolent infractionsor forpolitical activism.

With support from DiPasquale, the Internet freedom nonprofit Fight for the Future has started an onlinepetitionthat details the charges against Manning, based on the charge sheet read to DiPasquale, BuzzFeed reports.

The petition questions whether Manning was put in isolation to stifle her free speech.

"Chelsea has been very active while in prison, speaking out through her twitter account about issues of government transparency, transgender rights, and the prison system," the petition says. "She's been writing a regular column for The Guardian, and even wrote a bill to reform the Espionage Act and protect journalism. These absurd charges against Chelsea, and the outrageous threat of indefinite solitary confinement, are clearly an attempt to silence Chelsea's important voice and cut her off from the outside world."

DiPasquale did not immediately return a request for comment.

UPDATE: Army spokeswomanTatjana Christian sent this statement to HuffPost:

Inmate Manning received a disciplinary report for alleged rules violations.

The case has been processed and is currently pending a Disciplinary and Adjustment Board. Upon its completion, Manning will be informed of the outcome. Discipline and adjustment boards are a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules and adjudicate alleged violations within an administrative process. The Army remains committed to a fair and equitable process in the adjudication of administrative matters for all of its Soldiers.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly indicated that Manning was already in solitary confinement.The story has also been updated to include a statement fromACLU attorney Chase Strangio.

Original post:
Chelsea Manning Could Face Solitary For Expired Toothpaste

Published August 12, 2015

WICHITA, Kan. Convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning could be placed in solitary confinement indefinitely for allegedly violating prison rules by having a copy of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and an expired tube of toothpaste, among other things, her lawyer said Wednesday.

The former intelligence analyst, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents while working in Iraq. She is serving a 35-year sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, for leaking reams of war logs, diplomatic cables and battlefield video to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in 2010.

Her attorney, Nancy Hollander, said an Aug. 18 hearing is set at the Fort Leavenworth prison for the transgender Army private. The hearing before a three-person panel is closed, although Manning has asked that it be public.

"This is like prison disciplinary infractions in a civilian prison and there will be a hearing, but frankly it looks to me like harassment," Hollander said.

The military had no immediate comment Wednesday.

The prison charges include possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over the toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. All relate to alleged conduct on July 2 and 9. The maximum penalty Manning could face is indefinite solitary confinement.

"It is not uncommon in prisons to have charges that to the rest of us seem to be absurd," Hollander said. "Prisons are very controlled environments and they try to keep them very controlled and sometimes in that control they really go too far and I think that this is going too far."

Hollander is particularly troubled by the fact that Manning's reading material was taken away from her, including a novel about transgender issues, the book "Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy The Many Faces of Anonymous," the book "I am Malala," an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine containing an interview with Manning and the U.S. Senate report on CIA torture.

"There is certainly no security risk, and that could impinge on her free speech rights and attempt to silence her," she said.

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Chelsea Manning faces possible solitary confinement ...

Chelsea Manning faces solitary confinement at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for charges of disrespect to corrections staff and disorderly conduct, military officials said today.

An inspection of her cell led to additional charges of possession of "prohibited property" that included the Vanity Fair issue with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and an expired tube of toothpaste.

The transgender service member is serving a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth following her conviction in 2013 for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks when serving an Army tour in Iraq.

Manning is an inmate in the general population at the detention facility that houses 465 convicted military personnel serving sentences of 10 years or more. Inmates in the general population can interact with other inmates and hold jobs at the facility, about 54 of them who have had disciplinary violations have been placed in a separate maximum security status that restricts their privileges and limits them to their cells for 23 hours of the day, and are allowed one hour of recreation to go outside for exercise. The military does not use the term solitary confinement.

Nancy Hollander, the attorney handling Mannings appeal, told ABC News that Manning faces a disciplinary hearing on Aug. 18 that could lead to a maximum penalty of indefinite solitary confinement for four charges of disrespect, disorderly conduct, prohibited property and medicine misuse.

Hollander is concerned that prison authorities "are harassing Chelsea and punishing her for speaking out."

The charges stem from a July 2 incident at the prisons dining facility involving Manning and a corrections specialist. According to a summary of the charge documents published on a website supporting Manning, the corrections officer told Manning to be aware of her surroundings after almost being hit by food that Manning had swept off a table.

In an ensuing verbal exchange Manning is described as interrupting the officer saying you are accusing me, "this interview is over and I want my lawyer."

An inspection of Mannings cell a week later while he was "under administrative segregation pending investigation" discovered prohibited property, including reading materials and a tube of anti-cavity toothpaste that had an expiration date of April 9.

Tatjana Christian, an Army spokeswoman, said Manning "received a disciplinary report for alleged rules violations. The case has been processed and is currently pending a Disciplinary and Adjustment Board."

"Upon its completion, Manning will be informed of the outcome," Christian added. "Discipline and adjustment boards are a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules and adjudicate alleged violations within an administrative process. The Army remains committed to a fair and equitable process in the adjudication of administrative matters for all of its Soldiers."

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Chelsea Manning Faces New Charges for Caitlyn Jenner ...

Chelsea Manning, the US army soldier who leaked classified documents to Wikileaks, is looking at indefinite solitary confinement for infractions that include possessing a copy of the Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair magazine and using an expired tube of toothpaste.

Former intelligence analyst Manning is serving out a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth for espionage and is back in hot water with authorities, according to her lawyer Nancy Hollander. The New York Times reports:

The prison charges include possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over the toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. All relate to alleged conduct on July 2 and 9. The maximum penalty Manning could face is indefinite solitary confinement.

Of particular concern to Hollander is the confiscation of Mannings reading material. Literature included the highly-touted Jenner cover story in Vanity Fair, a novel about transgender issues, a book on the hacker collective Anonymous, a book about young Pakastani activist Malala Yousafzai and a U.S. Senate report on CIA torture. Its unclear how Manning acquired the material that has now been deemed prohibited, or how these determinations were made. The medicine misuse charge emerged from the discovery of an expired tube of toothpaste in Mannings cell.

She is also charged with disrespect, for having been contemptuous and sweeping food onto the floor during dinner. On the Chelsea Manning website, we can see the exact charges that were sent to Manning, according to the prisoner herself:

Over at The Guardian, where Manning is a columnist on global affairs, ACLU lawyers attached to Mannings case believe that she is being targeted for her notoriety and identity:

Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the ACLU who is handling Mannings legal dispute with the US military over her health treatment in prison as a transgender woman, said the charges were very concerning. They could chill her activities or even silence her altogether.

Strangio said it seemed that Manning was being unfairly targeted. Chelsea has a growing voice in the public discussion and it would not surprise me were these charges connected to who she is.

The Christian Science Monitor has experts discussing the staggering rise of the use of solitary confinement in the U.S. and why Mannings case may be skewing in this direction:

Christopher Epps, the former Mississippi prison chief told The New York Times in 2012 that while prison wardens start out isolating prisoners who scare them, they eventually start using it for inmates theyre mad at.

As an outspoken figure in the fight for government transparency and a prisoner who still has a global platform, its hard not to see Mannings possible infractions as trumped-up and the potential repercussions as overly severe. A closed-door disciplinary meeting is scheduled for August 18, though Manning has peitioned it be made public.

[NY Times; Guardian; Christian Science Monitor]

Originally posted here:
Chelsea Manning Faces Solitary Confinement For Having A ...

Chelsea Mannings lawyer says charges against her are utterly ridiculous since US army soldier was allowed to have books and toothpaste in her cell.

Chelsea Manning, the US army soldier serving a 35-year military prison sentence for leaking official secrets, has been threatened with indefinite solitary confinement for having an expired tube of toothpaste in her cell and being found in possession of the Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair issue, according to her lawyers and supporters.

Manning, a Guardian columnist who writes about global affairs, intelligence issues and transgender rights from prison in the brig of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, has allegedly been charged with four violations of custody rules that her lawyers have denounced as absurd and a form of harassment. The army private is reportedly accused of having showed disrespect; of having displayed disorderly conduct by sweeping food onto the floor during dinner chow; of having kept prohibited property that is books and magazines in her cell; and of having committing medicine misuse, referring to the tube of toothpaste, according to Mannings supporters.

The maximum punishment for such offences is an indeterminate amount of time in a solitary confinement cell.

The fourth charge, medicine misuse, follows an inspection of Mannings cell on 9 July during which a tube of anti-cavity toothpaste was found. The prison authorities noted that Manning was entitled to have the toothpaste in her cell, but is penalizing her because it was past its expiration date of 9 April 2015.

The prohibited property charge relates to a number of books and magazines that were found in her cell and confiscated. They included the memoir I Am Malala by Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, a novel featuring trans women called A Safe Girl to Love, the LGBT publication Out Magazine, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair and a copy of Cosmopolitan that included an interview with Manning.

Also confiscated was the US Senate report on torture. It is not clear why any of these publications were considered violations of prison rules a request by the Guardian to the army public affairs team for an explanation of the charges received no immediate response.

Nancy Hollander, the lawyer dealing with Mannings appeal against the 35-year sentence for being the source of the WikiLeaks disclosures of US state secrets, called the charge relating to an expired tube of toothpaste utterly ridiculous. She added: Im concerned that books have been taken from her those books came to her legally and are clearly not a security threat.

Hollander also had objections to the fact that the details of the charges listed by Fort Leavenworth included a reference to Manning saying I want my lawyer following a discussion with a prison officer. To ask for a lawyer when you are being accused of something by a prison officer thats not disrespect, Hollander said.

Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the ACLU who is handling Mannings legal dispute with the US military over her health treatment in prison as a transgender woman, said the charges were very concerning. They could chill her activities or even silence her altogether.

Strangio said it seemed that Manning was being unfairly targeted. Chelsea has a growing voice in the public discussion and it would not surprise me were these charges connected to who she is.

Strangio is in possession of legal documents that were issued by the US military in pre-charging proceedings. The actual charges were read out by Manning verbatim to her supporters, who then published the wording in a petition that has been set up calling for the charges to be dropped. A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for 18 August; should it go ahead the petitioners demand that it should be made open to the public.

Continued here:
Chelsea Manning may face solitary confinement for having ...

U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning could face punishment of indefinite solitary confinement for having an expired tube of toothpaste, an issue of Vanity Fair in which transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner describes her new life living openly as a woman, the U.S. Senate report on torture and other "prohibited property" in her cell at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth. Manning is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking U.S. government cables to WikiLeaks. On Thursday, an Army spokesperson said it is committed to "a fair and equitable process" in Mannings case, which is now pending before a disciplinary board.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: I also want to ask you about U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. It was five years ago that she was arrested in Kuwait, charged with leaking classified information. Weeks later, WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of internal logs from the war in Afghanistan. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in jail.

Now lawyers for Manning say she could face punishment of indefinite solitary confinement for having an expired tube of toothpaste and an issue of Vanity Fair that features transgender celebrity athlete Caitlyn Jenner describing her new life as a woman, the U.S. Senate report on torture and other "prohibited property" in her cell at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth. When The Guardian newspaper inquired why these publications are considered violations of prison rules, it received no response. Manning is also accused of, quote, "showing disrespect" for asking to see her lawyer in a discussion with a prison officer. Manning is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking U.S. government cables to WikiLeaks. And on Thursday, an Army spokesperson said its committed to, quote, "a fair and equitable process" in Mannings case, which is now pending before a disciplinary board.

Can you explain? An expired tube of toothpasteshes at Fort Leavenworthand the Vanity Fair issue of Caitlyn Jenner?

CAREY SHENKMAN: Its really outrageous that Manning is being threatened with whats been recognized as torturetheres an international consensus that indefinite solitary confinement is torturefor books and toothpaste. I mean, come on. This is so outrageous. Our hearts go out to Manning. As you pointed out, theres a review on August 18th, and Manning has an outstanding defense team that can hopefully deal with this, but the fact that this is even being considered is completely unacceptableand, I think, also confirms the fears all along of Assange being extradited to the United States. I mean, we saw during the court-martial of Chelsea Manning that there were continuous attempts to link Manning to Assange under a conspiracy theory. In fact, Assanges name was brought up over 20 times in some arguments alone. So, we see this over and over. And Juan Mndez, the U.N. expert on torture, found that Manning was subject to inhumane treatment while in U.S. custody, and Manning actually got a sentencing credit as a result of that.

JUAN GONZLEZ: I mean, what are the rules, in terms ofespecially of literature? I would assume that if literature comes into the prison, it has to be reviewed, if it comes in the mail, by prison authorities before Manning would even get this literature. So, do you know what the rules are?

CAREY SHENKMAN: I mean, based on the reports Ive read, the Vanity Fair came through like normal mail. Theres no reason, it seemed, to do this. In fact, Manning was asking for a lawyer when these charges happened. So, its really unacceptable. This is, like I said

AMY GOODMAN: Do you see these cases as intimately linked, the cases of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning?

CAREY SHENKMAN: In the perception of the U.S. government, absolutely. I mean, Manning is an alleged source of WikiLeaks, and one of the major theories in the Manning case was trying to link Assange to Manning. So we see, I think, based on whats happening now with Manning and a risk of torture, Assange has every right to fear being extradited to the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Carey Shenkman, of course, well continue to follow both of these cases. Carey Shenkman is a First Amendment and human rights lawyer, working along with Michael Ratner and the Center for Constitutional Rights, representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

And that does it for our show. A very fond farewell to our beloved senior news producer Rene Feltz. Her humility, her brilliance, her dogged determination to unmask the truth have made Democracy Now! a better news organization. Rene, we look forward to future collaborations with you sitting at the table bringing us your invaluable reports.

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Chelsea Manning Faces Solitary Confinement for Having ...

Chelsea Manning, the former US Army intelligence officer behind one of the biggest leaks of diplomatic and other sensitive (i.e., embarrassing) material in American history, is facing indefinite solitary confinement at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, brig where she is serving a 35-year sentence. Formerly known as Bradley Manning, before her decision to go transgender, Chelsea is charged with four "crimes":

While this last infraction surely is heinous, the other three seem like pure harassment. Sweeping food off a table hardly seems like a very big deal. And what about the "forbidden" reading material, which, in addition to Vanity Fair, apparently consisted of I Am Malala by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a novel entitled A Safe Girl to Love, Out Magazine, an issue of Cosmopolitan that featured an interview with Manning, and the US Senate report on torture?

Okay, so Cosmo's "20 Meanest Things Celebrities Have Said About the Kardashians" is a bit on the subversive side, but hey, if we start censoring ourselves doesn't this mean that The Terrorists will have won?

I don't mean to trivialize the cruel persecution of Chelsea Manning, but these "charges" are something out of Alice in Wonderland: reading them one wonders if we've gone through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole. These people aren't even pretending to be fair.

The "crimes" of Chelsea Manning weren't crimes against people but against the US government, i.e., they were acts of conscience that should be rewarded rather than punished. Nothing she did hurt a single person, except those persons in power whose hypocrisy and venality was exposed: not a single US casualty in our interminable "war on terrorism" can be traced back to the leaking of the materials that have been posted on Wikileaks via Manning. Indeed, the material that was released to the world exposed the very real crimes of our rulers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. This is Chelsea's real "crime," one for which she is paying dearly.

On the other hand, let's take a look at another lady who stands accused of mishandling US secrets, including material classified "Top Secret": Hillary Rodham Clinton.

While serving as Secretary of State, she violated US government protocol by conducting both her professional and personal email correspondence on her own private server. This alone is illegal, but her crimes don't stop there.

When this unusual arrangement was discovered, she refused to hand over the server: instead, she separated out those emails she deemed "personal," handed some over to the US State Department, and then erased the entire contents of the server -- thus covering up whatever violations of national security standards may have occurred during her tenure.

Clinton repeatedly denied having any classified documents either coming in or going out of her private inbox, but we have since discovered that this is not quite true.

So far, officials have discovered that at least four emails she turned over contained classified information. Two of these were deemed "Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information" -- the highest level of secrecy in the government's classification system. If you follow that last link, it will bring you to a heading that reads: "TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN."

"Top secret" is just what it implies: this material came from the top drawer of America's most closely-guarded intelligence. "SI" means "special intelligence," i.e., intercepted communications of the sort collected by the National Security Agency. This category of intelligence is rated so highly that it is stored in a special facility, with precautions taken against any intrusion, whether physical or electronic. "TK" means the material was acquired via satellite. "NOFORN" means only American officials (with a need to know) are permitted access: no foreigners.

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Article: Chelsea Manning and Hillary Clinton: A Case of ...

CREDIT: Twitter/@xychelsea

Manning tweeted this photo this week, describing it as "the latest photograph of me." It's from February of 2015, the week that she was allowed to begin hormone replacement therapy and access feminine products.

Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier convicted for leaking national security information, faces the threat of indefinite solitary confinement for allegedly violating prison rules. These charges classified as serious by Fort Leavenworth prison officials are for such violations as having a copy of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover, having an expired tube of toothpaste (improper medicine use), disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor and then asking to speak to her lawyer, and possessing prohibited property including transgender rights literature and the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture.

Thursday evening, Manning tweeted out copies of the charge reports. Some of what they said had been shared earlier in the week on FreeChelsea.com, a petition site demanding her fair treatment. One of the charges alleges, You were approached by a Correctional Specialist in regards to your actions inside the dining facility. You conducted yourself in a contemptuous manner by being disrespectful to the cadre present.

Another page of the report explains without much detail what apparently happened during this incident:

On 2, July 2015, during dinner chow, inmate Manning was approached by [a correctional specialist] to inform inmate Manning to be aware of her surroundings because [the correctional specialist] was almost hit with some food inmate Manning swept off the table. [The correctional specialist] informed inmate Manning to stand by at Commons 1 once chow was completed so [the correctional specialist] could talk to inmate Manning and explain what she had done wrong while at Commons 1. [The correctional specialist] attempted to talk to inmate Manning, but she continued to cut [the correctional specialist] off by stating words to the effect of you are accusing me, this interview is over, and I want my lawyer. [The correctional specialist] ended the conversation and inmate Manning left to go get medications.

Another charge suggests that sweeping food onto the floor is conduct of such a nature as to affect the peace and quiet of individuals, or who may thereby be disturbed or provoked to resentment. This charge could encompass all participants in a fight, regardless of who started the fight, or against individuals who engage in disruptive conduct, such as trashing the facility (e.g. throwing things on the floors, or flooding the facility by any means.

Among the other printed materials taken from Manning and not returned were copies of The Advocate, OUT Magazine, and Cosmopolitan which featured an interview with her. There was also a copy of Transgender Studies Quarterly and a novel about trans issues called A Safe Girl to Love, among other books.

Mannings charges will be addressed in a hearing next Tuesday, and she faces a maximum charge of indefinite solitary confinement.

Mannings lawyers worry that any discipline over these charges could impact her access to various support networks, including her opportunities to contribute to The Guardian as a columnist. They also worry that shes being unfairly targeted based on her activism, her identity, or her pending lawsuit seeking access to comprehensive transgender health care. She has so far been granted access to a few accommodations related to her transition, but she continues to fight for more.

It is unclear if Manning would continue to have access to even these basic accommodations if she is disciplined with indefinite solitary confinement. Solitary confinement particularly when used for several weeks or indefinitely is considered a form of torture by many global bodies, including the International Red Cross, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

An estimated 80,000 people are held in solitary confinement on any given day in the United States. Half of the successful suicides that take place in prison are committed by people in solitary confinement. This is perhaps unsurprising given research has found that solitary can actually cause brain damage because prisoners enter a state of hypervigilance, a stress response that they cannot turn off.

Manning has been subject to such treatment before. According to the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, she was subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment by the United States military after her arrest, including being locked up alone for 23 hours a day for 11 months in conditions that may have constituted torture.

Though its not clear that Manning is being targeted for her identity, transgender prisoners are disproportionately housed in solitary confinement. Because they are often housed in prisons that do not match their gender and are thus subject to higher rates of physical and sexual abuse they are often placed in solitary for their safety. This often backfires, as they are then more vulnerable to abuse from prison staff.

Chelsea Manning is serving her 35-year sentence at the maximum-security U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, a mens prison.

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Chelsea Manning May Face Indefinite Solitary Confinement ...