> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # When Article 89 and Article 90 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End? - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-89-and-article-90-charged-together/ - Published: 2026-10-30T08:15:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:15:40.000Z - Description: From 2017 to 2026, 24 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial charged both disrespect (Article 89) and disobeying an officer (Article 90). Every case ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and the median confinement was 4 months, the same as in all cases charging Article 89. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 89, Article 90 [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 89](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-89-courts-martial/) › With Article 90 **Short answer:** From 2017 to 2026, 24 Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial charged both disrespect (Article 89) and disobeying an officer (Article 90). Every case ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and the median confinement was 4 months, the same as in all cases charging Article 89\. 10 of 21 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge. Based on 24 cases · 2017–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## A More Senior Group of Accused By rank, the accused were 11 junior enlisted members, 10 NCOs, and 3 officers. This group is more senior than the accused in all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 89. 9 of the 24 cases were general courts-martial (38%). In all cases charging Article 89, the general court-martial share was 32%. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Discharges for Enlisted Members and Officers Of 21 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a punitive discharge: 8 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. In all cases charging Article 89, the punitive discharge share was 37%. 3 convicted officers or warrant officers appear here, and none of them was dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Median Confinement of 4 Months Of the 24 convictions, 18 included confinement. The median confinement was 4 months, the same as the 4 months in all cases charging Article 89\. A quarter of the sentences that included confinement were 10 months or longer. These numbers are adjudged sentences. They reflect the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case. ## Sentence Bands Close to the Wider Group Terms under 6 months made up 50% of convictions, compared with 49% in all cases charging Article 89\. No confinement made up 25%, compared with 29%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up 17%, compared with 15%. Sentences longer than one year came in 2 of 24 convictions (8%), about the same as the 7% in the wider group. 1 was more than 1 year but under 5 years, and 1 was 5 years or more. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement. | Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 89 | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | No confinement | 6 | 25% | 29% | | Under 6 months | 12 | 50% | 49% | | 6 months to 1 year | 4 | 17% | 15% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 1 | 4% | 5% | | 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 2% | ## Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases The plea is listed in 20 of the 24 records. 13 accused pleaded guilty, and 7 entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. A case with a not-guilty or mixed plea counts as contested. The contested share was 35%. That is the same as the 35% in all cases charging Article 89\. This data does not break out verdict results for the 7 contested cases, so it cannot show how many ended in a full or partial acquittal. ## Other Charges in These Cases Every case included at least one other article. Besides Article 90, the most common were Article 86 (AWOL) in 9 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 7, Article 128 (assault) in 6, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 5. The sentences above cover all of these charges together. A conviction for disrespect and disobedience may come with an AWOL, assault, or orders charge in the same sentence. ## Years and Installations The cases were tried from March 2017 to April 2026, and the busiest year was 2022\. The count was 2 in 2017, 1 in 2018, none in 2019, 3 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, 3 in 2025, and 1 in 2026, a partial year. Camp Pendleton, California had the most cases (4). Camp Lejeune, North Carolina had 3, and Fort Drum, Fort Hood, and Fort Riley had 2 each. These five installations account for 54% of the 24 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so the counts do not show where this conduct is more common. ## Law Changes and Gaps in the Records The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019\. It set fixed panel sizes, created judge-alone special courts-martial capped at six months with no punitive discharge, and brought in written plea agreements. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply to offenses after December 27, 2023. Because the records give trial dates and not offense dates, they cannot show which rules governed each case. They also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Army, Navy, and Marine Corps courts-martial that charged both Article 89 and Article 90 (24 cases). Air Force cases are left out because Air Force records rarely list the charges in acquittals. Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Article 89 (Disrespect Toward Superior Officer; Assault of Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-89-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Article 90 (Willfully Disobeying Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-90-courts-martial/) (hub) - [When Article 89 and Article 92 Are Charged Together, How Do Cases End?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-89-and-article-92-charged-together/) - [Fewer or More? Disrespect Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-89-trend-2021-2025/) - [How Has Article 89 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-89-trend-2017-2025/) - [AWOL Plus Disrespect: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 86 and 89](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-86-and-article-89-charged-together/) - [Article 127 Plus General Article: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 127 and 134](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-127-and-article-134-charged-together/) - [Articles 107 and 115 in the Same Case: What the Records Show](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-107-and-article-115-charged-together/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.