Ft. Meade military judge rules Bradley Manning subjected to illegal pretrial punishment

NPR's Steve Mullis reports that Col. Denise Lind has ruled, at a pretrial hearing Tuesday at Fort Meade in Maryland, that the treatment Pfc. Bradley Manning received during the nine months he spent in solitary confinement in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va. was "more rigorous than necessary." She credited a total of 112 days toward any prison sentence Manning may receive.
     Manning's lawyer, David E. Coombs, at a hearing last year, likened the treatment his client received to that of a "zoo animal." Manning also took the stand during that hearing and described contemplating suicide and making a noose while being held in Kuwait.
     Manning faces life in prison, so it's unclear how a 112-day reduction could be administered if he receives the harshest sentence.