Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases in 2019
In 2019, 29 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 131b (obstruction). Of convicted enlisted members, 85% received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, compared with 60% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 131b › Navy-Marine Corps, 2019
Short answer: In 2019, 29 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charged Article 131b (obstruction). Of convicted enlisted members, 85% received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, compared with 60% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with a 6-month service median.
Punitive Discharges Were Much More Common Than Service-Wide
Of 27 enlisted members convicted in these cases, 23 received a punitive discharge (85%). Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, the share was 60%. Most were bad-conduct discharges. Only 2 were dishonorable discharges.
For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. The officer equivalent is a dismissal. The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. When no punitive discharge was imposed, a later administrative separation is still possible. It would not appear in these records.
Many Sentences Were Between 6 Months and 1 Year
Of the 29 cases, 28 ended with a conviction on at least one charge. Of those sentences, 25 included confinement (89%). The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 6-month median service-wide.
Sentences from 6 months to 1 year made up 12 convictions (43%), compared with 23% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019. Sentences under 6 months made up 6 convictions (21%), compared with 35%. Confinement longer than one year was imposed in 7 of 28 convictions (25%), about the same as the service's 24%. Of those 7, 6 were between 1 and 5 years and 1 was 5 years or more. Only 3 convictions (11%) included no confinement, compared with 18% across the service.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 11% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 6 | 21% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 12 | 43% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 21% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 5% |
Sentences by Court Level
Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year and can impose a bad-conduct discharge. Since 2019, there is also a judge-alone special court-martial, limited to six months of confinement with no punitive discharge.
The median confinement was 1.3 years at the 13 general courts-martial and 6 months at the 16 special courts-martial. General courts-martial made up 45% of the cases, about the same as the 43% service-wide. All sentences here are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.
Obstruction Was Charged With Other Offenses
Article 131b was the only charge in 1 of 29 cases. Article 81 (conspiracy) and Article 92 (orders violation) each appeared in 10 cases. Article 112a (drug) appeared in 9, and Article 121 (larceny) and Article 128 (assault) in 7 each.
Because a sentence covers every charge, the sentences here include the punishment for those other offenses. These 2019 cases are among the first under the Article 131b number. The first case in the records was tried in February 2019.
Few Records List the Plea
Only 12 of the 29 records list the plea: 9 guilty pleas and 3 contested. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 25%, compared with 28% across the service.
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so these counts are based on a small part of the cases. Of the 3 contested cases that reached a verdict, 1 ended in a full acquittal.
Changes From 2018
Cases rose from 26 to 29. Median confinement fell from 1 year to 8 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members rose from 71% to 85%. The contested share fell from 31% to 25%. Full acquittals went from 2 of 4 contested cases that reached a verdict to 1 of 3. The general court-martial share rose from 42% to 45%.
These groups are small, and a few cases can change each figure. The changes show direction, not precise trends.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 26 | 29 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 31% | 25% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 4 | 1 of 3 |
| Convictions with confinement | 91% | 89% |
| Median confinement | 1 year | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 71% | 85% |
| General courts-martial | 42% | 45% |
Rank and Installations
Among the accused with a recorded rank, 15 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 12 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That group was more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2019, where 57% were junior enlisted.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 9 cases. San Diego, California tried 6, Bremerton, Washington 4, Camp Pendleton, California 3, and Norfolk, Virginia 2. Those 5 installations account for 83% of the 29 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show a local problem.
What the Records Do Not Show
Court records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or matters handled outside a court-martial, such as nonjudicial punishment.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in 2019 that charged Article 131b (29 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2018.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 131b (Obstruction, Numbered Since 2019): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2018 (previous / next)
- Obstruction at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2020: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 131b, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2021
- How Navy-Marine Corps Obstruction Cases Ended in 2022
- Navy-Marine Corps Article 131b Cases in 2025
- How Much Confinement for an Article 131b Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Obstruction of Justice and Perjury: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences
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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.