Lawyer: Chelsea Manning could get solitary confinement for having Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair issue

A lawyer for Chelsea Manning says her client could end up in solitary confinement over alleged infractions — including possessing the issue of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover — that "to the rest of us seem to be absurd."

The U.S. solider once known as Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 after leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military documents. Manning is at Fort Leavenworth prison, and The Associated Press says she is charged with possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over having expired toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. The maximum penalty is indefinite solitary confinement.

"Frankly, it looks to me like harassment," attorney Nancy Hollander told AP. "It is not uncommon in prisons to have charges that to the rest of us seem to be absurd. Prisons are very controlled environments and they try to keep them very controlled and sometimes in that control they really go too far and I think that this is going too far." Hollander finds it especially problematic that officials have taken away Manning's reading material, including a novel about transgender issues, the books I am Malala and Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy — The Many Faces of Anonymous, and an issue of Cosmopolitan magazine containing an interview with Manning. "There is certainly no security risk, and that could impinge on her free speech rights and attempt to silence her," Hollander said.

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