The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2017
The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 507 courts-martial for 2017. The median adjudged confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months in the other services in 2017. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 37% of cases, compared with 11% in the other services.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The Navy and Marine Corps records hold 507 courts-martial for 2017. The median adjudged confinement was 8 months, compared with 4 months in the other services in 2017. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 37% of cases, compared with 11% in the other services.
Longer Sentences Than in the Other Services
Of 451 convictions, 90% included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 4 months in the other services in 2017. These are adjudged sentences, announced at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
Terms longer than 1 year were more common than in the other services: 138 of 451 convictions (31%), compared with 23%. Terms from 6 months to 1 year were 23% of Navy and Marine Corps convictions, compared with 11%. Only 10% had no confinement, compared with 21%.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the other services in 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 43 | 10% | 21% |
| Under 6 months | 165 | 37% | 46% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 105 | 23% | 11% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 91 | 20% | 14% |
| 5 years or more | 47 | 10% | 8% |
Assault Was Charged More Often
Charge lists cover 491 of the 507 cases, and a case is counted once under each article it charges. Article 128 (assault) was charged in 37% of cases and Article 120 (sexual assault) in 19%. In the other services in 2017, the figures were 11% and 7%.
Drug charges were less common. Article 112a (drug) was charged in 31% of Navy and Marine Corps cases, compared with 52% in the other services. Article 134 (general article) was charged in 13%, compared with 21%. Article 80 (attempts) was charged in 10% of cases here, compared with 1%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the other services in 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 182 | 37% | 11% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 150 | 31% | 52% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 94 | 19% | 7% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 81 | 16% | 17% |
| Art. 134 General article | 66 | 13% | 21% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 56 | 11% | 4% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 49 | 10% | 8% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 48 | 10% | 1% |
Pleas, Where Recorded
Navy and Marine Corps records from before December 2020 often leave out the plea. Only 236 of the 507 records list one: 175 guilty pleas and 61 contested cases. The contested share was 26%. A contested case is one with a not-guilty plea to at least one charge.
Among cases with a plea listed, cases charging Article 112a ended in a guilty plea 90% of the time (69 of 77), the highest among the most common charges. Cases charging Article 120 ended in a guilty plea 40% of the time (21 of 53). The records give no reason for any plea.
Verdicts in Contested Cases
Of the 61 contested cases that reached a verdict, 54% ended in a full acquittal, meaning the accused was found not guilty of every charge. Many records lack a plea, so this figure rests on a small, incomplete set of cases.
Findings for each article cover more cases. Article 112a cases most often ended in a conviction on that article (139 of 150, or 93%). Article 120 cases least often did (68 of 94, or 72%). The median confinement was 4 years for Article 120 convictions, 10 months for Article 128 convictions, and 6 months for Article 112a convictions.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 182 | 155 (85%) | 10 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 150 | 139 (93%) | 6 months |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 94 | 68 (72%) | 4 years |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 81 | 72 (89%) | 8 months |
More Special Courts-Martial Than General
A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial can impose no more than 1 year of confinement and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. In 2017 the records show 224 general and 283 special courts-martial. The general court-martial share was 44%, compared with 45% in the other services in 2017.
At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 2 years and 34% of cases were contested. At special courts-martial, the median was 4 months and 19% of cases were contested.
Punitive Discharges
Of 430 convicted enlisted members, 292 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (68%). In the other services in 2017, the share was 51%. Of those discharges, 101 were dishonorable. Of 17 convicted officers or warrant officers, 9 were dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out administrative separation later.
Rank and Location
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 66% of the accused, NCOs were 29%, and officers were 4%. In the other services in 2017, junior enlisted members were 61%.
Camp Pendleton, California (71), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (67), Bremerton, Washington (50), San Diego, California (45), and Norfolk, Virginia (39) tried the most cases. Together they account for 54% of the 507. Large installations try more cases of every kind.
Before the Military Justice Act Took Effect
Every case here was tried before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. That law later created judge-alone special courts-martial limited to 6 months of confinement with no punitive discharge and introduced written plea agreements, among other changes. None of these changes applied to these trials.
There were 507 cases in 2017, compared with 244 in 2016. The contested share was 26%, compared with 27% in 2016. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 6 months. The enlisted punitive discharge share was 68%, compared with 62%. A few cases can change figures for small groups.
| 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 244 | 507 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 27% | 26% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 36 of 64 | 33 of 61 |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 90% |
| Median confinement | 6 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 62% | 68% |
| General courts-martial | 49% | 44% |
What the Records Leave Out
The records give trial dates rather than offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Conduct handled through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation is not included, and plea counts for these years use only the records that list a plea.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every Navy and Marine Corps court-martial in the data with a trial date in 2017 (507 cases), compared with the other services in 2017 and with 2016.
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
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2018 (previous / next)
- How 2021 Went at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2022: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2023: Year in Review
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2025: Year in Review
- 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.