Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army intelligence analyst serving time for leaking military secrets, faces solitary confinement for possessing the Caitlyn Jenner cover issue of Vanity Fair magazine and other \"prohibited\" books and magazines. <\/p>\n
Manning faces an Aug. 18 hearing at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas where she will have to answer to numerous disciplinary infractions, according to Reuters. Infractions on July 2 and July 9 include attempted disrespect, possession of prohibited books and magazines while under administrative segregation, medicine misuse pertaining to expired toothpaste, and disorderly conduct for pushing food onto the floor. <\/p>\n
Manning's attorneys have called the charges \"absurd and a form of harassment,\" reported The Guardian, which said the Army private has written columns for it on intelligence issues and transgender rights. <\/p>\n
\"I'm concerned that books have been taken from her,\" said Nancy Hollander, one of Manning's attorneys. \"Those books came to her legally and are clearly not a security threat.\" <\/p>\n
Along with the Jenner Vanity Fair issue, Manning was found with the book \"I Am Malala\" by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a novel \"A Safe Girl to Love,\" that features trans women, the LGBT publication Out Magazine, and a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine that included an interview with Manning. <\/p>\n
\"It is not uncommon in prisons to have charges that to the rest of us seem to be absurd,\" said Hollander, according to USA Today. \"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.\" <\/p>\n
Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney handling Manning's case, told The Guardian he believed his client was being targeted. <\/p>\n
\"They could chill her activities or even silence her altogether,\" said Strangio. \"Chelsea has a growing voice in the public discussion and it would not surprise me were these charges connected to who she is.\" <\/p>\n
The former Bradley Manning, 27, was found guilty in February 2013 on 10 counts connected with the WikiLeaks scandal and was sentenced in August of 2014, noted USA Today. Manning then announced shewas a female and asked that she be referred to as Chelsea and withfeminine pronouns. Related Stories:<\/p>\n
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