Why I think Bradley Manning should do time.

[malthaussen]

7. When I say Mr Ellsberg violated no trust of position...

... I mean that very specifically. Mr Ellsberg was not acting in any official capacity, or using information to which he had access as a result of a position then held. It's a nice point: he knew about the PP because of work he did previous to release, and he had an "in" at the RAND corporation (which, while not a public agency, was under contract to the government at the time. Still is, I think). As a comparison, if PFC Manning had waited until separation from military service to expose what he knew, I would not have a problem. Of course, arguably without such access he would have had nothing to expose.

As for the conditions of PFC Manning's pre-trial incarceration, I addressed that in a reply infra: I agree that it may be persuasively argued that his sentence be commuted to DD and time served. Lord knows, those conditions should serve adequately pour encourager les autres. I'm not completely satisfied on this point atm, but in any event 3-5 should include some portion of time served.

-- Mal