On Jan. 17 President Obama commuted much of Chelsea Manning’s remaining prison sentence, reports the New York Times. Ms. Manning was slated to be released from prison in the year 2045. She will now be released on May 17.
As of Jan. 17, President Obama has granted more commutations than any U.S. president in history.
Chelsea Manning was given a 35-year prison sentence after she was convicted for a 2010 U.S. intelligence leak that involved WikiLeaks and exposed information concerning the nation’s global diplomacy and its military. Much attention of the media came Ms. Manning’s way due to her trial and conviction, as well as the fact that, after her sentencing, Ms. Manning announced she was transgender and began to identify as Chelsea.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Ms. Manning’s behalf, arguing that Ms. Manning should be allowed to transition to life as a woman. As a result, the military provided Ms. Manning with cross-sex hormones, female undergarments, and some cosmetics. Still, the military has yet to allow Ms. Manning to visit a surgeon to discuss sex reassignment surgery. The military also hasn’t allowed Ms. Manning to grow her hair longer than male military standards, stating that doing so could result in a security risk.
In 2016 Ms. Manning attempted suicide twice.
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