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It's no pardon, but it will do:
President Obama has put Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified material, on his short list for a possible commutation, a Justice Department source told NBC News. A decision could come [...] for Manning, who has tried to commit suicide twice this year and went on a hunger strike in a bid for gender reassignment surgery.
"I have more hope right now than I have the entire time since she was sentenced," Manning's aunt, Deborah Manning, told NBC News.
[...] Manning's supporters believe the harshness of the sentence can be traced to another leaker; the scandal around former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was erupting around the same time. "I really believe the judge felt she needed to send some sort of message," the aunt said. "I think in a way she was a scapegoat for Edward Snowden." Snowden, who has asked Obama for clemency, tweeted his support of Manning shortly after NBC News' report about the commutation decision aired on TODAY on Wednesday morning.
Four former and current Army intelligence officers told NBC News the documents leaked by Manning pale in significance to highly classified top secret material released by Snowden. The officers, who would not allow their names to be used, said the Manning sentence seems excessive.
Also at The Hill.
Time magazine adds:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will agree to be extradited to the U.S. if President Obama grants whistle-blower Chelsea Manning clemency before his term ends on Jan. 20, the organization has said.
In a tweet posted on the group's official account Thursday, WikiLeaks said Assange would not oppose extradition to the U.S. "despite [the] clear unconstitutionality" of any potential criminal complaints that the Justice Department may have against the whistle-blower website, if U.S. Army private Manning is released.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Saturday January 14 2017, @05:04PM
Ought to strive harder to make justice more impartial. Too often been hearing of shamefully harsh, bungling, and/or unrealistic punishments. The Ham Hand of Justice.
That's bad enough, but there is also too much corruption, with excessive punishments used as excuses to enrich the state at the expense of the innocent and the little, while the big get off way too easy. There's the Asset Forfeiture Program, red light cameras, parking enforcement especially with parking meters, the classic speed trap, and city ordinances and HOA rules against letting the grass grow too tall, painting your house an unapproved color, etc. Worst is the Prison Industrial Complex and the War on Drugs. We also have a lot of powerful interests who've been pushing a ridiculous War on Piracy. All this energy is spent on Don't Copy That Floppy, don't buy drugs from Canada, while Wall Street wolves and vultures run wild.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 14 2017, @05:10PM
Pretty sure Manning's excessive sentence was to serve as a deterrent to other would-be leakers, especially because on some level the higher-ups knew that the wars were becoming increasingly unpopular for those on the inside as well as the outside of the military.
Justice may have a ham hand at times, but Manning's sentence was deliberate and even endorsed by Grand Emperor Baraq Hussein Soetoro himself. If Baraq frees Manning, he will only do so because Muh Legacy.
(Score: 3, Informative) by mcgrew on Saturday January 14 2017, @05:51PM
There's the Asset Forfeiture Program, red light cameras, parking enforcement especially with parking meters, the classic speed trap, and city ordinances and HOA rules against letting the grass grow too tall, painting your house an unapproved color, etc.
Only the first on your list has ever had anything to do with the federal government, and the federal government no longer has private prisons. [washingtonpost.com]
The things you mention annoy me as well, but they're nowhere near on topic. We're talking about a federal prisoner. This has absolutely nothing to do with state or local governments or any of the laws they pass.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday January 14 2017, @06:04PM
War on Drugs sure is federal. As is the War on Piracy, what with this Copyright Czar appointed by no less a person than POTUS, and this whole Copyright Alert System they've put into place without direct public input. Why is Aaron Swartz dead?
Often the feds have stepped in to roll back a state's too harsh and unfair laws. Likewise with a state sometimes busting up a municipal scheme. So it's not all bad.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15 2017, @02:06PM
POTUS
We call him King Nigger around here.