Following up with my conversation with military-law expert Gene Fidell on the conditions of Pvt. Bradley Manning's detention, I spoke with Michelle Lindo McCluer, executive director of the National Institute of Military Justice at American University Washington College of Law about the conditions of Manning's confinement and the legal issues at play -- particularly with regards to speedy trial issues. Under the current system, the many concerns people like Glenn Greenwald have raised about Manning's treatment can't be dealt with until the actual court-martial is held. Manning is suspected of being a source of classified documents for WikiLeaks.
“There's the 6th Amendment, there's courts-martial rule 707, there's also Article 10 in the UCMJ, and each of them give different rights in terms of giving someone a trial fast,” Lindo McCleur says, adding that the Court of Military Appeals has interpreted Article 10 to give more speedy trial rights to the accused. While the upper limit in the UMCJ is 120 days, McCleur says that there are some circumstances under which the time can be extended, but "it's got to be something that's reasonable; it can't be an open-ended witch hunt." Manning was charged on July 5, so it's been 210 days. Manning's attorney, David Coombs, has filed for charges to be dismissed based on Manning's right to a speedy trial being violated. Investigators have reportedly been struggling to link Manning to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Another issue is whether or not Manning's placement in maximum security conditions, and alternately on suicide watch and prevention of injury, reflect an effort by authorities to be punitive or coercive toward Manning. The Pentagon has denied this is the case. However, Lindo McCluer echoed Fidell's concerns about the length of time Manning had been placed under maximum security conditions. “It’s a little unusual that he would be in such a high security status for such a long time," she says. She also agreed that a standing military court would be a good idea.
“It would make it easier procedure wise. A defense counsel could basically say, my guy should be let out of confinement or he should have fewer restraints. But Gene's absolutely correct, there is no standing court he can go to," Lindo McCluer says. "So the defense counsel can only go to the convening authority or some other commander with authority over manning or the confinement facility and lobby the case there."
The brig commander at Quantico was recently replaced, reportedly for reasons unrelated to Manning's detention, so it'll be interesting to see whether the conditions of Manning's confinement change.
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that Manning's case has been delayed based on a request by the government only a few days after he was charged. Manning is accused of some extremely serious crimes; I would guess the probability of the charges being dismissed based on a speedy trial violation to be very low.
