What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in December 2019
Navy and Marine Corps records show 34 courts-martial in December 2019. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 23% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 12% for both services across 2019. The median confinement was 8 months, higher than the 6 months for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Year › December 2019
Short answer: Navy and Marine Corps records show 34 courts-martial in December 2019. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 23% of the cases with charges listed, compared with 12% for both services across 2019. The median confinement was 8 months, higher than the 6 months for the year.
Equal Numbers of General and Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial made up 17 of the 34 cases (50%), compared with 33% in December 2018. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial cannot go beyond one year of confinement or impose a dishonorable discharge, though it can adjudge a bad-conduct discharge.
Sentences differed by level. At general courts-martial, 93% of convictions included confinement, and the median was 1.5 years. At the 17 special courts-martial, 71% did, and the median was 3 months.
Longer Sentences Than the Year
There were 28 convictions, and 23 included confinement. The median confinement was 8 months, compared with 6 months for the Navy and Marine Corps in 2019. A quarter of the terms were 1.5 years or longer.
Terms over one year were adjudged in 8 of 28 convictions (29%), more often than the 24% for the year. Of those, 7 convictions (25%) were between 1 and 5 years, compared with 19%. Convictions with no confinement made up 18%, the same as the year. Terms under 6 months made up 32%, about the same as the yearly 35%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 5 | 18% | 18% |
| Under 6 months | 9 | 32% | 35% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 21% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 7 | 25% | 19% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 5% |
The General Article and Threats
Charges are listed for 30 of the 34 records, and each article counts once per case. Article 112a drug offenses appeared in 10 cases (33%, compared with 30% for the year). Article 134, Article 92 orders violations, and Article 128 assault each appeared in 7 cases (23%).
For the year, Article 134 was 12% and Article 92 was 17%. Assault was less common than the yearly 34%. Article 115 (malingering before 2019, communicating threats since) appeared in 4 cases (13%), compared with 3% for 2019. Article 107 false official statements and Article 81 conspiracy each appeared in 10% of cases, compared with 7%. Article 121 larceny appeared in 4 cases (13%, compared with 11%).
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 10 | 33% | 30% |
| Art. 134 General article | 7 | 23% | 12% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 7 | 23% | 17% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 7 | 23% | 34% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 4 | 13% | 11% |
| Art. 115 Malingering before 2019, communicating threats since | 4 | 13% | 3% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 10% | 7% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 10% | 7% |
Discharges for Enlisted Members
Among 26 convicted enlisted members, 17 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (65%), higher than the 60% for the year. Only 1 of those was dishonorable. Neither of the 2 convicted officers or warrant officers was dismissed.
A punitive discharge is the bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge an enlisted member can receive at trial. A sentence without one does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Pleas on the Record
The plea appears in 18 of the 34 records. Of those, 14 were guilty pleas and 4 were not-guilty or mixed pleas. The contested share was 22%, compared with 28% for the year. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge.
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so these counts use only the records that list it. Of the contested cases that reached a verdict, 3 of 4 ended in a full acquittal.
A Year After December 2018
December 2018 had 27 cases; December 2019 had 34. The median confinement rose from 5 months to 8 months. The general court-martial share rose from 33% to 50%. The contested share fell from 40% to 22%. Convictions with confinement fell from 87% to 82%, and punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members went from 68% to 65%.
These are small groups, and a few cases can change a percentage, so the changes show direction, not precise size.
| December 2018 | December 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 27 | 34 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 40% | 22% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 3 of 4 | 3 of 4 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 82% |
| Median confinement | 5 months | 8 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 68% | 65% |
| General courts-martial | 33% | 50% |
Rank and Installations
Among the accused with rank recorded, 15 were junior enlisted, 14 were NCOs, and 2 were officers. That group was more senior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole in 2019.
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had the most trials (9). Next were Camp Pendleton, California (5), San Diego, California (4), and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Norfolk, Virginia (3 each). Those five locations account for 71% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count says nothing about a particular base.
What These Records Do Not Show
Only cases that reached a courtroom appear here. The figures describe trials, not all misconduct in the Navy and Marine Corps that month. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separations, and cases closed with no action are not included. The records do not describe the evidence, the plea terms, or the dates of the alleged offenses.
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 December 2019 (34 cases), compared with the whole 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
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- November 2019 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 42 Cases (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in January 2020 (previous / next)
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial in 2019: Year in Review (the whole year)
- April 2018 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 43 Cases
- April 2020 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 18 Cases
- August 2017 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 37 Cases
- August 2019 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 34 Cases
- 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.