Transgender Chelsea Manning is already serving life in prison for leaking state secrets. Chelsea called on friends and supporters from prison to inform them that the military court has found her guilty of four charges. The charges on which the new conviction has been made look frivolous and include possession of LGBTQ reading material like the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair, and having a tube of expired toothpaste in her cell.
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) August 13, 2015 The military court awarded her punishment like 21 days of recreational restrictions and excluded her from time in the gym, library and outdoors. Though the punishment does not seem harsh, it can have an impact on her future hearings concerning parole or clemency. Manning told her supporters that she expects the convictions to delay her transition to minimum security custody status by years. A group called Fight for the Future in association RootsAction.org, Demand Progress and CodePink, had initiated a petition for leniency prior to the hearing and had drawn over 100,000 signatures from her supporters. Manning who maintains contact with her supporters through her Twitter account said that she’s done nothing to warrant the hearing other than speak out on the treatment of prisoners and her struggle as a trans woman behind bars. She also said that the whole thing started when she complained that military correctional staff denied her access to the prison legal library. During the closed disciplinary hearing, Manning was required to present her own defense—the ACLU said that she’s been denied an attorney as punishment for unruly behavior.
