
Chelsea Manning recovering after suicide attempt in jail, lawyers say - thrownaway954
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/chelsea-manning-suicide-attempt-virginia-jail/index.html
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somesortofsystm
Chelsea should be out, enjoying herself under the sun.

Hers is a generation that will inherit the debt of American war crimes, and it
is an utter tragedy that things are going down like this.

It is a real modern travesty; to consider how extremely dire the situation is,
the dead public silence vis a vis military war-crimes, versus what Chelsea is
going through.

By what righteous metric can a society that allows such an injustice to happen
be allowed to continue to keep its secrets?

Challenge the narrative and either you get justification for mass-murder,
downright hostility from folks who cannot brook a challenge to the military
hegemony, or outright ignorance and pleas of victim-hood.

So-called western moral authority is torn to shreds - but the interesting
thing is, if the West is to step back from the precipice and face the truth,
then Chelsea is going to be a part of that, too.

Her pardon is the only appropriate way forward, followed by proper justice for
the real crimes against humanity that were committed by her colleagues, in the
name of their families.

Chelsea's release, as well as Julian's, would most definitely be the _only_
way for things to turn around, for the generation that will inherit these
debts is not easily going to forgive these deeds.

The leaks will continue.

Especially since the very real, extraordinarily catastrophic war crimes have
continued to happen, and there is _still_ not an appropriate level of
responsibility for the situation. There is ZERO Justice for the victims.

Just how long we are going to be distracted by puppets until we start jailing
our very real war criminals? Assange and Manning being pardoned has to happen.

~~~
droithomme
> Her pardon is the only appropriate way forward

A pardon is not possible because she has not been convicted of any crime. She
is being held for contempt of court because she refuses to testify to a secret
closed door panel. She says she will testify in public about whatever they
wish but not to secret proceedings. She has also previously answered the
questions they say they want to ask her in the secret proceeding.

~~~
Seenso
> A pardon is not possible because she has not been convicted of any crime.

Is that true? Wasn't Nixon pardoned for his crimes without actually being
convicted of anything? He didn't even manage to get impeached, since he
resigned before that could happen.

~~~
Mountain_Skies
A quick web search shows this to be a matter of some dispute. Some cases have
been ruled in favor of the executive being able to pardon contempt while
others have declared contempt to not be an offense as defined by the
Constitution and therefore not pardonable.

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boomboomsubban
More proof that it is unlawful to continue holding her, as the Grumbles motion
her team submitted last month stated. Further imprisonment will not cause her
to talk, so it is unlawful to imprison her.

Hope she recovers quickly.

~~~
warent
In my opinion, she should be free. That being said, I don't think an emotional
outburst is "more proof" (maybe you meant more evidence) that it is unlawful
to hold her. Can you imagine going in from of a judge and saying "my client
attempted suicide in prison, that means it's unlawful to hold her." The
precedent would allow basically any prisoner who attempts suicide to be
released.

~~~
philwelch
For instance, Jeffrey Epstein.

~~~
kleer001
Yeah... whatever happened to him? I hope his story gets back into the news
cycle after this Pandemic blows over.

~~~
deadmetheny
He's still dead, last I heard.

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pengaru
Is she allowed visitors? Where is she being held?

~~~
sp332
The linked article [https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/politics/chelsea-manning-
back...](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/politics/chelsea-manning-back-to-
jail/index.html) says she's in the Alexandria Detention Center.

According to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning#2019_jailing_f...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning#2019_jailing_for_contempt)
she was in "administrative segregation" for the first month or so but has been
in "general population" since then.

~~~
pengaru
Thanks, I had skimmed the article but missed the location.

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Der_Einzige
Prisoners who are either in for 10 years+ or are put into solitary confinement
should be given a voluntary euthanasia option. If Chelsea Manning sincerely
believes that she will not be freed, and wants to end her own life on her
terms, let her.

This objectively reduces harms. You cannot sincerely tell me that people who
wanted to end their suffering in the face of extreme torture or solitary
confinement are "mentally ill" or acting irrationally.

~~~
jascii
This would be an indirect death sentence to many. Involuntary confinement is
extremely stressful and has been known to lead to irrational acts like
suicide. Why do you think they take your belt and shoelaces when you get
incarcerated?

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thrownaway954
"She is scheduled on Friday to appear for a hearing on a motion to terminate
the contempt sanctions from her refusal."

hmmmm.... she is scheduled Friday for a hearing that will most likely free
her, but attempts suicide yesterday???

sounds very concerning and fishy to me.

edit: guess everyone forgets about Epstein. I wouldn't doubt it if this
happened to her cause they don't want her getting out.

~~~
megous
Likely to free her? You figured that out how exactly? From the article and how
the civil contempt works, she would be held indefinitely, until the reasons
for contempt charge would end. That is probably until the trial with Assange
in US ends. And it didn't even start yet.

~~~
thrownaway954
if you listen to the accompanying news reel, she was only suppose to be in
there for a maximum of 18 months. it's been 2 years so with the hearing coming
up on Friday, there should be a good chance she can go free _fingers crossed_.

~~~
sp332
I'm pretty sure that rule does not apply when the person has the ability to
comply with the court at any time and continues to decide not to. That's why
in this case, Chelsea is being fined an additional $1,000 per day. Each day is
considered a separate act of contempt. She was not sanctioned summarily, but
will be held until she complies.

~~~
GordonS
> Chelsea is being fined an additional $1,000 per day

Wow, I didn't know that. It's not enough to ruin her life while she's in
prison, but they want to ruin it if/when she is eventually released.

