There have been a number of recent reports suggesting that Pvt. Bradley Manning displayed signs of mental health problems prior to his imprisonment on suspicion of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. It certainly seems plausible to me that at least some of these are the result of the government wanting to justify decisions to place Manning on Suicide Watch or Prevention of Injury status. At the same time the details -- that Manning's supervisors didn't follow procedures for securing classified information -- don't paint the government in a very flattering light.
This is why the argument for a standing court-martial is compelling to me. Let's say hypothetically that Manning's placement in MAX, POI, and SW are justified. If you have a judge with jurisdiction over Manning's detention, then the government doesn't have to wage a PR war in response to people raising concerns about whether or not the conditions of Manning's detention are coercive or preemptively punitive. If you're concerned about the latter, then you have a judge who can prevent the government from deliberately mistreating someone in their custody merely because they are having trouble making their case, or because the crime they're accused of is very serious.
Either way, the issue is resolved.
