President Obama on Tuesday commuted the remainder of Chelsea Manning’s prison sentence, ensuring the former Army soldier will be released this May instead of in 2045.
Manning was convicted of leaking sensitive information about American military and diplomatic activities to the government transparency site WikiLeaks in 2010.
Manning was originally sentenced to 35 years in prison and moved to solitary confinement after attempting suicide in an Army prison last July. Manning has been pushing the military to cover the expenses of a sex reassignment surgery Manning hopes to have. Manning was known as Bradley Manning when he was caught leaking the information.
The Manning commutation was one of 209 sentences Obama commuted on Tuesday. He also pardoned 64 inmates Tuesday, bringing his total to 212.
The last minute clemency move brings Obama’s commutation total to 1,385 federal prisoners, more than any of the last 12 presidents combined.
More than 16,000 clemency petitions were filed by prisoners over the past two years. Justice Department officials reviewed them and then sent their final recommendations to the president ahead of the end of his second term.
Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT Project representing Manning, said he was “relieved and thankful.”
“This move could quite literally save Chelsea’s life, and we are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many,” Strangio said in a statement.
Republicans immediately denounced the controversial move to free Manning. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “No, I don’t,” when asked if he agreed with it.
“The president is really undermining our political capital by granting clemency at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “People say, ‘well why should we change the sentencing rules in criminal justice reform if the president can do it with the flick of his pen?’ So it’s his right. He has the authority to do that, but I don’t think it’s wise.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, slammed the decision, saying in a statement he didn’t “understand why the president would feel special compassion for someone who endangered the lives of our troops, diplomats, intelligence officers, and allies. We ought not treat a traitor like a martyr.”
When someone has receives a commutation, that means the person is still a criminal. Pardoning means the conviction is erased from a person’s record and civil rights, such as voting rights, are restored.
Also notably pardoned was retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright, who lied to the FBI about his conversations with reporters. He was set to be sentenced on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2016.
“These 273 individuals learned that our nation is a forgiving nation,” said White House counsel Neil Eggleston in a blog post, “where hard work and a commitment to rehabilitation can lead to a second chance, and where wrongs from the past will not deprive an individual of the opportunity to move forward.”
A majority of the people receiving commutations were serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.
Al Weaver contributed
