Academic

Looking at Mohamud's confinement conditions, compared to Pvt. Manning's

By Tung Yin

Jailers hold Mohamed Mohamud, accused in plot to bomb Portland tree lighting, in 'protective custody' (Oregonian)

According to this news story, Mohamud is being held in solitary confinement at the downtown Justice Center, which is run by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department:

[H]e eats all of his meals alone and doesn't mix with the general inmate population, said Chief Deputy Michael Shults,  who heads corrections for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.  

There are good reasons for the isolation, Shults said Friday. A lot of the jail's inmates had friends and family at the city's annual tree lighting, he said, and jailers want to make sure none of them could harm Mohamud.

It's an interesting suggestion that other inmates might want to harm Mohamud because they, despite being fellow crime suspects, see him as the enemy.  It vaguely reminds me of a scene from the novel Goodbye, California by Alistair MacLean, where the government needs to send a commando team to fight off a terrorist group holed up in a castle with a nuclear weapon.  The terrorists are willing to meet with the U.S. President and key cabinet officials.  Rather than send the real officials, the government locates look-a-likes to play those officials.  One of the dopplegangers is a convicted serial killer who is described as being oddly patriotic -- as in, even criminals don't like terrorists!

Anyway, pre-trial detention is nothing to sneeze at, especially solitary confinement, but it sounds like things could be worse.  A lot worse.  Here's what Mohamud gets to do:

Mohamud, a Westview High School graduate, is allowed to leave his cell for about two to four hours a day, giving him time to stretch his legs, take a shower and phone his lawyers, Shults said.

Compare Mohamud's confinement conditions to those of Private Bradley Manning, who is suspected of having given WikiLeaks the massive reams of classified documents that are being exposed.  Manning is being detained in a cell in a military brig for 23 hours a day, without a pillow or sheets.

I'm not sure who is accused of the "worse" crime -- Manning's alleged actions have probably caused more long-term damage to the United States because of the impact on our future diplomatic efforts, but one could arguably describe him as a whistleblower.  If Mohamud wasn't entrapped, however, there's nothing that can be said that would justify the intent to blow up civilians, including children.

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on December 19, 2010 (boomark / email).