> ## 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. # No Confinement: Federal Probation Sentences vs. Navy Courts-Martial - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-navy-no-confinement/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:39:35.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:39:35.000Z - Description: The share of Navy convictions with no confinement was 10% in 2016 and 37% in 2025. For trial dates from 2016 to 2025, 321 of 1,681 Navy convictions with a sentence recorded (19%) had no confinement. In federal court over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 7% of people sentenced received probation only. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [No Confinement](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-no-confinement-courts-martial/) › No Confinement: Navy **In brief:** The share of Navy convictions with no confinement was 10% in 2016 and 37% in 2025\. For trial dates from 2016 to 2025, 321 of 1,681 Navy convictions with a sentence recorded (19%) had no confinement. In federal court over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 7% of people sentenced received probation only. Updated November 2, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 · Military Trial Results This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## How Did the Navy Share Change From 2016 to 2025? The Navy records show 200 convictions in 2016, and 10% of them had no confinement. In 2017, the share was 11%. It was 15% in 2018 and 16% in 2019. From 2020 through 2023 the share was 22%, 23%, 21%, and 19%. It was 26% in 2024 and 37% in 2025, when the Navy recorded 140 convictions. The records show that the share rose over the period. They do not show why. Over the same fiscal years, the federal probation-only share stayed between 6% and 8%. | Year | Navy convictions | No confinement | Federal: probation only | | ---- | ---------------- | -------------- | ----------------------- | | 2016 | 200 | 10% | 8% | | 2017 | 204 | 11% | 8% | | 2018 | 194 | 15% | 7% | | 2019 | 195 | 16% | 7% | | 2020 | 157 | 22% | 7% | | 2021 | 159 | 23% | 7% | | 2022 | 159 | 21% | 6% | | 2023 | 130 | 19% | 6% | | 2024 | 143 | 26% | 7% | | 2025 | 140 | 37% | 7% | ## What Is the Overall Navy Figure? Across all 10 years, the Navy records list 1,681 convictions with a sentence recorded. Of these, 321 (19%) had no confinement. The federal Sentencing Commission data covers 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. A total of 46,079 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The Navy overall share was higher than the federal share. ## What Else Could a No-Confinement Sentence Include? A court-martial sentence with no confinement can include a punitive discharge, a reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay, or a reprimand. Of the 267 enlisted members convicted with no confinement, 45 (17%) still received a punitive discharge. That is a smaller share than the one in the Army and Air Force records. The 17% describes enlisted members only, so it does not cover the rest of the 321 no-confinement convictions. ## Most of These Sentences Came From Special Courts-Martial Of the 321 no-confinement convictions, 243 (76%) were at a special court-martial. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence. The Navy figure therefore comes mostly from courts with limited sentencing power. Federal sentencing has no equivalent split, and the federal figure covers every offense in the system. ## How the Federal Number Is Defined In the federal data, probation only means a sentence length of zero, counting alternative confinement. The group is everyone sentenced, whatever the offense. The Navy group is every court-martial conviction with a sentence recorded, whatever the offense. Because the offenses differ, a higher Navy share does not mean that Navy courts were more willing to avoid confinement for the same conduct. ## What the Records Cannot Show The records do not show which offenses were behind the rise in no-confinement sentences or whether a plea agreement shaped any sentence. They also do not show what supervision, if any, followed a sentence without confinement. Federal fiscal years and court-martial trial dates are counted differently, and the yearly percentages are most useful for direction and not for exact comparison. ### How We Counted Navy: courts-martial with a trial date in 2016 to 2025 ending in a conviction with the sentence recorded (1,681). Federal: everyone sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (659,036, U.S. Sentencing Commission); "probation only" means a sentence length of zero, counting alternative confinement. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **Who is in each set of numbers.** The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended. **Different cases reach each system.** Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts. **Military sentences include punishments federal sentences do not.** A court-martial sentence can include a punitive discharge (bad-conduct discharge, dishonorable discharge, or dismissal for officers), reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay. These have no federal counterpart. A comparison of months of confinement leaves them out. A short confinement term combined with a dishonorable discharge is a heavier sentence than the months alone show. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [No Confinement: Federal Probation vs. Court-Martial Sentences With No Confinement](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-no-confinement-courts-martial/) (overview) - [No Confinement: Federal Probation Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-army-no-confinement/) - [No Confinement: Federal Probation Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-air-force-no-confinement/) - [No Confinement: Federal Probation Sentences vs. Marine Corps Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-probation-vs-marine-corps-no-confinement/) - [Types of Military Discharge](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/military-discharge-types-chart/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **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.