While I don’t know how it interacts with the UCMJ, this is always a useful thing to look at when reading articles that report the maximum possible sentence as if it’s likely:
Actually I was kind of surprised at the verdict. I don’t think it’s a miscarriage at all. IT was basically accepting his pleas on what he pled guilty to, dismissing the very dangerous Life / Death counts, and taking finding him guilty on lesser offenses on one. He was found guilty of 4 counts of stealing USG property, which he admitted to doing but wanted a plea deal to cover only one count. He’d already pled guilty to the espionage acts he was convicted of.
If the sentences on the convicted/plea aggreements run concurrently, he’ll be imprisoned for 35 years or so. If they go consecutive, he’ll be imprisoned for 136 years.
That’s if the max sentences on each count are imposed, too. If less than max are imposed, those numbers change depending on whether or not is concurrent or consecutive. And then there’s also clemency , pardons, and good behavior time that come into play post-conviction, as well as an automatic appeal into the federal court system.
https://twitter.com/carwinb/status/362268687522209792/photo/1
Good grief. Why do you people think the government would give clemency or a pardon? It was the government that CHOSE to prosecute him.
But, oh! He is only going to spend half his life in one of the worst prisons on the continent! He is so lucky!
If you have a real argument to why he deserved to be tortured and then thrown into an oubliette, I’d love to hear it.
One appeal: Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He can’t even appeal to the Supreme Court.
Well, what did you think was going to happen? He pleaded guilty on over half the charges. He chose to be tried by a single judge , and not a jury, so there goes nullification. They have dead to rights on the other charges. The only one that was really a stretch was the Aiding the Enemy charge, and he got off on that one.
Given the evidence that they had on him, and the fact the judge HAD to consider the evidence and HAD to go by the law and COULD NOT NULLIFY… how do you see him being found not guilty on the charges he was found guilty on? He freaking admitted to it.
Now I admire him. I think he’s a great guy and a hero. But the moment he said “no jury”, judgement based on feeling in this case was REMOVED, and with that went ANY shot at a full slate not guilty.
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Do his choices in the trial justify locking him up for half his life? Or are you just blaming him for the abuses of the government. Again.
My article isn’t really on point when it comes to military sentences; I’m not familiar with the military system.
His choices at the trial and his choices in general are what this whole thing is about!
You have got to be kidding me. The government tortures him, charges him with everything under the Sun to intimidate him and force him to plea bargain, tries to hold the trial in secrecy, abuses reporters who don’t toe the government line, and does this all for the purpose of intimidating reporters and leakers, yet you still want to blame him for this? You don’t get it. This is bigger than him. The government isn’t hitting him with a sledgehammer because he damaged national security. He didn’t. They are hitting him because he exposed their lies and they now want to shoot a shot across the bow of any potential leaker or journalist. They want everybody to know that the government will not be held accountable for its crimes, and that it will use its full power to see that this remains the case.
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I like your reading on this the best.
So, found the new ‘like’ button yet?
I guess Manning has to vainly hope along with the rest of us that the next government wants to portray a distinctly different stance on these issues… pardoning Manning would certainly help sell a claim of embracing transparency.
Regarding the gender identity issues: I’ve written about this previously, including today. It seems, from leaked personal communication and other sources, that Manning is transgender. But Manning has stated a wish to be identified in public as male, at this time. One can imagine a transgender person in Manning’s current position deciding, understandably, that right now is simply not the right time to publicly transition, regardless of one’s internal conviction of identity.
Not relevant. This is military law. Whole different set of rules apply.
Concern-trolling. I’ve addressed this in a separate comment.
Bradley Manning has upheld his oath and provided desperately needed information to Americans and the rest of the world. Bradley didn’t steal or leak anything. He liberated information that was stolen and suppressed from us.
FREE BRAD
Now maybe I’ll see Free Bradley Manning signs everywhere?
There are ambiguities in the situation, and I don’t think it’s fair to accuse people of transphobia for referring to Manning as “Bradley Manning”. It certainly merits some consideration, however.
There’s good reason to believe that Manning identifies as a woman, and intended to transition, as mentioned in this article, and many other places. But we have this statement from the Bradley Manning Support Network, which said,
From the earliest stages, the Bradley Manning Support Network has
sought to honor Manning’s choices. Early in the campaign, we reached
out to Manning’s aunt and lawyer and asked what name he preferred we
use in our advocacy. They got back to us to say that “Brad” or
“Bradley” would be fine.
Manning’s wishes, and Manning’s determination of Manning’s gender, should be paramount. The difficulty is in being certain what Manning’s wishes actually are. What we have most recently is an indirect statement, passed through two people who talked to Manning about it. I think it’s most likely that it’s an accurate statement, that for the duration of the trial at least, Manning wants us to use the name “Brad” or “Bradley” – though we do have to bear in mind that these wouldn’t be the first well-meaning people to deny the identity of someone they cared about.
Even assuming that Manning wishes to be known as “Bradley Manning” for now, it’s well-worth calling attention to the fact that Manning was considering transitioning, shortly before being thrown into a military prison, an exceedingly hostile environment, and that Manning may have chosen to postpone transitioning because of fears of further brutalization in prison.
Personally, I try to avoid referring to Manning’s gender identity or first name, except for the purposes of discussing this issue.
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