Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will serve four more months in prison after President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence on Tuesday, according to a Jan. 17 New York Times article. Manning, a transgender woman incarcerated at a men’s military prison, has already served seven years for her involvement in a 2010 WikiLeaks incident that disclosed American activities all over the world, and, last year, she attempted suicide twice. Obama’s decision to reduce Manning’s sentence, as well as his same-day pardon of Gen. James E. Cartwright, contrasts with the president’s otherwise tough stance on leaks of government information throughout his presidency. What do you think of Obama’s recent actions regarding Manning and Cartwright?

Prof. Daniel Breen (LGLS)

Nearly 100 years ago, the political scientist Harold W. Stokes praised the Pardoning Power as the last opportunity for “sanity and conscience” to govern the fates of criminal defendants. By that standard, it is difficult to argue with President Obama’s decisions in the cases of Chelsea Manning and General James Cartwright. Manning’s 35-year sentence was wildly out of proportion to the gravity of her offense, an exercise in bloody-minded vengeance rather than justice. In the case of General Cartwright, who pled guilty to charges of lying to federal investigators looking into the source of White House leaks, the crucial importance of a free and vigilant press militates against criminal penalties. In each case, Obama’s pardons were indeed supported by “sanity and conscience,” two commodities likely to be in short supply in the present Oval Office.
Prof. Daniel Breen (LGLS) is a lecturer in Legal Studies.
Prof. Carina Ray (AAAS)
Among the prisoners granted some form of executive clemency during Obama’s last days in power are a number of high profile and controversial cases. Top among them are Chelsea Manning, James Cartwright and Oscar Lopez Rivera, the Puerto Rican anticolonial leader of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (Armed Forces of National Liberation), who is also one of the longest serving political prisoners in the United States. While I applaud Obama’s judiciousness in these cases, I can’t help but lament the fact that he did not also grant clemency to Native American activist and American Indian Movement member Leonard Peltier and to Mumia Abu-Jamal, former Black Panther member, journalist, writer and advocate of the prison reform movement. If these two political prisoners were ever to have a chance at clemency — and hence freedom — it was under President Obama. I shudder to think of their fate under President Trump and the judiciary he puts in place.

Carina Ray (AAAS) is an Associate Professor of African and Afro-American Studies.

Michael Musto ’17
Barack Obama should be commended for commuting Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s prison sentence. One of the main criticisms of this last-minute action of the former president is that Manning had allegedly put American lives, and specifically U.S. service members’ lives, at risk. However, Brigadier General Robert Carr, the man who headed the Information Review Task Force that investigated the impact of the Wikileaks disclosures, ultimately admitted that they had found no instance of anyone who had lost his or her life in reprisals as a result of Manning’s leaks to Wikileaks. Government transparency should be valued, and Manning provided a public service in highlighting the excesses of U.S. foreign policy. At the same time, a commutation is not the same thing as a pardon. And Manning has already experienced significant hardship during her imprisonment, as well as attempted to commit suicide. It’s great that Manning’s sentence was commuted, but the ideal outcome would have been a pardon. And sadly, there has been no change in Obama’s attitude towards whistle-blower Edward Snowden- who remains a fugitive from his own government, after also providing a public service and showing the American people how the government tramples on their privacy and various constitutional protections on a daily basis.

Michael Musto ’17 is the vice president of Brandeis Conservatives.

Noah Seligman ’18

Obama commuting Manning’s sentence left me scratching my head. From a legal standpoint, I believe this sets a bad precedent, and I disagree with the decision. However, I have some theories as to why Obama did what he did. Firstly, in the grand scheme of things, I believe this action really won’t change how the U.S prosecutes individuals who leak classified information, much to the chagrin of the intelligence community. Secondly, I believe Obama may have come to the realization that maybe it isn’t a good idea to dissuade potential whistleblowers, especially given the fact that many expose real injustices and corruption. While the scale and context differ from Manning’s case, I believe the similar logic is at play with Cartwright’s pardoning. In my opinion, these actions from the president are a de facto admission that the administration believes it has been too hard on leakers.
Noah Seligman ’18 is president of the Brandeis Pre-Law Society.