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I do agree with most of your points, but I wouldn't say that Bradley Manning was tortured. Suicide watch in prison is meant to keep the person alive, not to be

I do agree with most of your points, but I wouldn't say that Bradley Manning was tortured. Suicide watch in prison is meant to keep the person alive, not to be nice. He was in solitary confinement for his own protection, (general population would have killed him, which would have been a far, far worse public relations fiasco) and then threatened to kill himself. I would say that the restrictions placed on him were overly harsh, but people have tried to hang themselves with their clothes and blankets before. Just to give another perspective - say you're in charge of the prison that Bradley Manning is held at. He's in a very fragile state of mind and is facing life without parole. If he gets treated too poorly, then it's your ass. But if you give him too much freedom, then he could use that opportunity to kill himself. That being said, the US is not exceptional about this. But I'd much rather be in the US than many other countries if I were charged with terrorism.

agwa 13y ago
I understand the need to protect prisoners, but I find the oft-repeated suggestion that people need to be placed in solitary confinement for their "own protection" rather perverse. Often times, solitary confinement, and suicide watch in particular, is so harsh and causes so much physical and emotional damage that it's only "protection" in the very narrow sense that the prisoner doesn't die. (Though, in California, suicide watch has been found to actually drive people to commit suicide as soon as they get out[1].) Also, I believe we should make these assessments based on what's the right thing to do, rather than on what minimizes public relations fiascoes or best covers the asses of prison officials. [1] http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/28/local/la-me-ff-prisons-20130228 http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/28/local/la-me-ff-priso...

agwa 13y ago

I understand the need to protect prisoners, but I find the oft-repeated suggestion that people need to be placed in solitary confinement for their "own protection" rather perverse. Often times, solitary confinement, and suicide watch in particular, is so harsh and causes so much physical and emotional damage that it's only "protection" in the very narrow sense that the prisoner doesn't die. (Though, in California, suicide watch has been found to actually drive people to commit suicide as soon as they get out[1].) Also, I believe we should make these assessments based on what's the right thing to do, rather than on what minimizes public relations fiascoes or best covers the asses of prison officials. [1] http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/28/local/la-me-ff-prisons-20130228 http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/28/local/la-me-ff-priso...