Leavenworth Prison Welcomes Its Newest Guest, Bradley Manning; His Reservation Is For 35 Years

Leavenworth Prison is about to welcome its newest guest. Bradley Manning was found guilty of leaking classified documents and information to WikiLeaks, and is to serve 35 years for his crimes.

The facility at Leavenworth, located west of Kansas City, is notorious as being one of the harshest prisons in America, The external appearance of the buildings has changed and been upgraded, but the inside is still rough. Inmates are very restricted there and are paid only a few pennies per hour for the work they do.

The prison is located near to a military barracks and sits a few miles away from Lansing, America’s oldest prison. The former Fort Leavenworth barracks, which overlook the Missouri River,were once referred to as ‘The Castle’.

The original prison was built back in the 1870’s and could hold up to 1,500 inmates. The current facility houses a maximum of 515 prisoners. Leavenworth Prison has had its fair share of notorious prisoners, For example Mennonites, who refused to do military service during the first world war, were held there.

During the second world war Fourteen German prisoners of war were hanged there in 1945. They had been accused of murdering other German prisoners who they thought were traitors.

Bradley Manning may be joined in prison by Major Nidal Hasan, who is on trial for his involvement in the Fort Hood massacre which took place in 2009. In that incident 13 people were killed.

There are currently five inmates at the prison who are on death row. Hasan Akbar is one of them. He was convicted in 2003 of murdering two army officers in Kuwait.

Life in the prison is mundane at best. The cells are basically pods, situated around a common area, and the prisoners do not have much privacy. A former Army captain, Raelean Finch, who is a regular visitor at Leavenworth Prison described the life inside the facility as boring and “monotonous.”