"Letter from a United States SuperMax"

[last1standing]

There is a very vocal minority here and elsewhere who believe that Snowden and other whistleblowers should turn themselves in to "face the music" for their actions, just like Ghandi and MLK. Then the Snowdens of the world can speak out from prison just as they did.

One problem. SuperMax.

Ask Manning what solitary confinement is and how many letters you're allowed to write to a waiting public. Maybe then you'll understand why there cannot be another MLK or "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

[sharp_stick]

1. I'd never turn myself in

if I did what he did. I'd never do what he did but that's kind of beside the point.

I think he's pretty much guaranteed himself a life sentence in the current environment.

[last1standing]

2. A life sentence without the ability to communicate to the world.

That's even worse. He wouldn't have the 'luxuries' that Ghandi or MLK had of being able to write letters to the papers or give interviews. He would be put in a place where he could rot until he found a way to kill himself or till he went insane.

That's what those demanding that he come back are advocating - suicide or insanity. Very progressive of them.

[backscatter712]

3. The psy-ops shills are still spewing that discredited talking point...

Well, that's one way to earn a paycheck.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

4. Manning was in a MILITARY prison...

As he was IN the military, ARRESTED by the military, CHARGED & TRIED by the military. NOT the same as SuperMax. Not the same as a Federal penitentiary. Breaking laws and being arrested in the military is a TOTALLY different world. My buddy dealt cocaine in the Army. He spent 2 HARD years in Levenworth for that. If he were a civilian, with the amounts that he was caught and tried with (this would be the late 90s/early 00s), he would have gotten a 1 year sentence, probably released after 6 months for good behavior.

These are apples and oranges comparisons. Also, with a Federal crime like Snowden's, he'd likely end up in a FEDERAL minimum security prison. SuperMax is generally reserved for violent individuals, and multiple escapees.

I keep seeing this argument, and I realize that most civilians don't know much about military law. I spent time in the USAF. The laws are 100% different. Infidelity can net you prison time. Rape is punishable by death (that is, if they bother to prosecute it, but that's another can of worms). It's a totally different system with their own laws. You give up a LOT of your rights as a citizen to be in the military.