Image from a quicklink (Image by Unknown Owner) Details DMCA | The punitive incarceration of Bradley Manning is cruel, certainly, but far from unusual in the US. There are some 25,000 inmates in long-term isolation in America's supermax prisons, and as many as 80,000 more in solitary confinement in other facilities. Where is the outrage -" even among progressives -" for these forgotten souls? Where, for that matter, is some acknowledgment of their existence?
To be fair, a few of the writers who champion Manning have mentioned in passing the widespread use of solitary confinement in the United States. But more often, these writers -- and their readers, if comments are any measure-- have gone to some lengths to distinguish Bradley Manning from the masses of other prisoners being held in similar conditions. Whether explicitly or implicitly, they depict Manning as exceptional-- and therefore, as less deserving of his treatment... |