Chelsea Manning Will Be Free In May

President but not-so-lame duck Barack Obama is commuting Chelsea Manning’s sentence for leaking documents to Wikileaks in 2010. Instead of her scheduled release in 2045, the 29-year-old transgender US Army private will be freed on May 17 of this year. Back in 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking more than 700,000 diplomatic documents and videos in what was one of the largest breaches of classified material in US history. During her time in jail, she went on a hunger strike and attempted suicide twice. 

She’s not the only one breaking out early. Obama granted commutation of sentences to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 others. Other notable cases include Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican independence activist who is considered to be one of the world’s longest-serving political prisoners. The holidays may have come late for these individuals but Obama’s record number of pardons will be a gift to many.