How Has Article 93 Changed in Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial Since 2017?
Article 93 (cruelty and maltreatment) was charged in 29 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2017 to 2025, and it was about 1% of convictions in both the early and late years. Of cases with a recorded plea, 63% were contested, compared with 32% across the service.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 93 › Navy-Marine Corps
Short answer: Article 93 (cruelty and maltreatment) was charged in 29 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial from 2017 to 2025, and it was about 1% of convictions in both the early and late years. Of cases with a recorded plea, 63% were contested, compared with 32% across the service. Of 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (58%), compared with 31% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Many Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal
Of 12 contested Article 93 cases that reached a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal (58%). Another 3 (25%) were partial acquittals: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, and guilty of another.
The full acquittal rate was higher than the 31% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. With only 12 contested cases that reached a verdict, a single verdict changes the rate noticeably. The comparison shows direction more than exact size.
More Cases Were Contested
A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 29 records, 19 list a plea: 12 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 7 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 63%, compared with 32% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. The contested share uses only the 19 records that list one.
A Small Share in Every Year
The records show 29 cases between May 2017 and December 2025: 3 in 2017, 4 in 2018, 6 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 0 in 2022, 2 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. These cases are 1% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.
Article 93 was part of 11 of 1243 Navy and Marine Corps convictions in 2017–2019 (1%) and 6 of 940 in 2023–2025 (1%), about the same share. The yearly number of convictions including Article 93 was highest in 2019, at 5. Shares use convictions with the offenses listed, so years with more or fewer cases overall can be compared.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 93 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 437 | 0% |
| 2018 | 4 | 433 | 1% |
| 2019 | 5 | 373 | 1% |
| 2020 | 2 | 354 | 1% |
| 2021 | 1 | 385 | 0% |
| 2022 | 0 | 322 | 0% |
| 2023 | 2 | 283 | 1% |
| 2024 | 3 | 345 | 1% |
| 2025 | 1 | 312 | 0% |
Sentences After a Conviction
Confinement was part of 70% of the 20 convictions. The median confinement was 5 months, compared with 6 months in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years. A quarter of the sentences were 1 year or longer.
The sentences ranged widely. 30% of convictions had no confinement, compared with 18% in the rest of the service. 10% carried 5 years or more, compared with 7%. Sentences longer than 1 year were less common overall: 3 of 20 convictions (15%), compared with 25%.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 6 | 30% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 8 | 40% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 15% | 22% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 1 | 5% | 18% |
| 5 years or more | 2 | 10% | 7% |
Discharges After a Maltreatment Conviction
Of 20 convicted enlisted members, 10 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (50%). Across the Navy and Marine Corps, the share was 62%. Of those 10, 3 were dishonorable discharges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Mostly NCOs, Mostly Special Courts-Martial
The accused were 8 junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 19 NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 0 officers. The accused were more senior than across all Navy and Marine Corps cases, where 63% were junior enlisted members.
Only 4 of the 29 cases were general courts-martial (14%), compared with 43% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Other Charges and Locations
In 24 of the 29 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 92 (orders violation) was charged in 14, Article 128 (assault) in 8, Article 107 (false official statement) in 5, Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) in 4, and Article 134 (the general article) in 3.
Norfolk, Virginia tried the most of these cases (4). Camp Lejeune, North Carolina tried 3, MCAS Miramar, California 3, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay 2, and Parris Island, South Carolina 2. Together these locations account for 48% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Law Changes and Missing Information
The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, and new sentencing parameters apply to offenses after December 27, 2023. These rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The records cannot show whether either change affected maltreatment cases.
The records also leave out the evidence, plea terms, and cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial tried 2017–2025 that charged Article 93 (29 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.
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 93 (Cruelty and Maltreatment): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- Fewer or More? Maltreatment Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (another service)
- Fewer or More? Attempt Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- Fewer or More? Child Endangerment Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- Fewer or More? Communicating Threats Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2021–2025
- Fewer or More? Conspiracy Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025
- How Much Confinement for an Article 93 Conviction in the Navy-Marine Corps?
- 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.