Out of prison, leaker remains on duty
WASHINGTON -- Pvt. Chelsea Manning, the soldier convicted in 2013 of illegally disclosing classified government information, will remain on active duty in a special status after her scheduled release from prison today, the Army said Tuesday.
An Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, said Manning will be on "excess leave" while her court-martial conviction is under appellate review. In that status she will be unpaid but "will be legally entitled to military medical care and morale welfare as well as commissary, recreation and exchange privileges," Johnson said in a written statement.
A former intelligence analyst in Iraq, Manning is being released after former President Barack Obama granted her clemency request in his final days in office. She was known as Bradley Manning before a sex change in prison. She served nearly seven years of her 35-year sentence at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Manning was convicted in a 2013 military court-martial of leaking secret military and State Department documents and battlefield video. A native of Crescent, Okla., she was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
Manning acknowledged leaking the materials, saying she wanted to expose what she considered to be the U.S. military's disregard of the effects of war on civilians.
N.C. governor vows to craft LGBT order
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gov. Roy Cooper vowed Tuesday to act on his own to improve protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in North Carolina, where he faces criticism for compromising with Republicans to partially repeal a law limiting anti-discrimination protections.
"I'm going to issue an executive order pretty soon that is comprehensive, that helps with LGBT protections," Cooper said during a conference in Washington, D.C., hosted by the liberal group Center for American Progress.
Any Cooper executive order would be limited. It could cover the state agencies he controls, but legislators also could override him. The GOP-controlled Legislature didn't do that when Republican Gov. Pat McCrory ordered state employees protected from gender and sexual-orientation discrimination a month after House Bill 2 passed.
Vegas death spotlights chokehold use
LAS VEGAS -- An unarmed man's death after Las Vegas police grabbed him in a neck hold has put a much-criticized law enforcement technique to subdue people back in the spotlight.
Las Vegas police train to use a version of a chokehold designed to avoid restricting the airway while cutting the flow of blood to the brain, a technique the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada now believes should be off-limits.
Tashii Brown, 40, died early Sunday outside The Venetian after a police officer used the technique. Brown became unconscious and died despite efforts at CPR.
"We're aware that they use this. But there has got to be another option," ACLU executive Tod Story said Monday. "There have been people in custody who have died. It really should no longer be used."
The Clark County coroner said a ruling on what killed Brown is pending.
Campaign-till abuse draws 8-month term
A former North Carolina state senator was sentenced to eight months in prison by a federal judge for charges stemming from accusations that he diverted campaign funds for personal use.
Fletcher Hartsell, 70, was sentenced Tuesday in Winston-Salem. He pleaded guilty in February to two tax-related counts and one count of mail fraud. As part of a plea agreement, more than 20 other counts arising from indictments last year were dismissed.
He was accused by prosecutors of misusing more than $200,000 in campaign funds on such items as vacations, speeding tickets and haircuts awaits sentencing Tuesday on federal charges arising from the case.
While state law limits campaign funds to expenses tied to running for or holding public office and to charity, the ex-lawmaker told a state elections investigator that haircuts were a proper campaign expenses because he wouldn't get his hair cut were he not a legislator, while tickets to the theater performance Jersey Boys constituted "therapy" for him.
Well-liked by colleagues from both sides of the aisle, Hartsell served in the state Senate for 26 years, making him the longest-serving senator until he decided not to seek re-election last fall.
Hartsell addressed the court before his sentencing, apologizing to his family and supporters, who crowded the courtroom to hear his fate.
A Section on 05/17/2017