Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Disrespect Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
Few of the 12 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2017–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 89 (disrespect) ended in a punitive discharge: 18% of enlisted convictions, compared with 60% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 89 › Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Disres
Short answer: Few of the 12 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2017–2025 where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 89 (disrespect) ended in a punitive discharge: 18% of enlisted convictions, compared with 60% for all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years. The median confinement was 3 months, compared with 6 months.
Punitive Discharges in 18% of Enlisted Convictions
A punitive discharge followed 18% of enlisted convictions in this group: 2 bad-conduct discharges and 0 dishonorable discharges. Across all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, the rate was 60%.
The group also includes 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. Without a punitive discharge in the sentence, a later administrative separation is still possible, and these records do not show one.
Confinement Was Usually Short
All 12 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 9 of the sentences included confinement (75%). The median confinement was 3 months. For all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years, the median was 6 months. A quarter of the confinement terms were 5 months or longer.
These figures are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they reflect every charge in each case.
Orders Violations in 6 of 12 Cases
Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 6 of the 12 cases. Article 86 (AWOL) and Article 128 (assault) each appeared in 4. Article 87a (resisting apprehension, numbered since 2019) and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) each appeared in 3.
Rank of the Accused
By rank, 7 of the accused were junior enlisted, 4 were NCOs, and 1 was an officer. The group was more senior than all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years.
A Few Cases Each Year
The trials ran from September 2017 to December 2025. The records show 1 in 2017, 2 in 2018, 1 in 2019, 0 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 1 in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and these counts use only records that list one.
How the Rules Shifted
The 2017 and 2018 trials took place under the rules in force before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That act set fixed panel sizes, brought in written plea agreements, and created a judge-alone special court-martial with a six-month confinement cap and no punitive discharge.
On December 28, 2023, special trial counsel replaced commanders as the decision-makers on whether to prosecute covered offenses, which include sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters. Offense dates are not in the records.
What the Records Do Not Include
Only cases that reached a court-martial are counted; nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action are not. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025: where the accused pleaded guilty to charges including Article 89 (disrespect) (12 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps guilty pleas in those years.
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 89 (Disrespect Toward Superior Officer; Assault of Superior Officer): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Sentences (hub)
- How Has Article 89 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
- How Much Confinement for an Article 89 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
- When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Disrespect (another service)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps AWOL Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Child Endangerment Cases: How Often, and What Came Next
- Search every case in 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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.