Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, July 2024: The Month in Review
The records list 30 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in July 2024. Of 26 convictions, 10 (38%) included no confinement, compared with 25% for all of 2024. Only 10 of 24 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (42%), compared with 58% for the year.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records list 30 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in July 2024. Of 26 convictions, 10 (38%) included no confinement, compared with 25% for all of 2024. Only 10 of 24 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (42%), compared with 58% for the year.
Many Convictions Without Confinement
Confinement was part of 16 of the 26 convictions. The 10 sentences with none made up 38% of convictions, a larger share than the 25% across the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2024.
For sentences that included confinement, the median was 4 months, compared with 5 months for the year. All of these figures describe adjudged sentences: what the court announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, covering every charge in the case.
Sentence Lengths Compared With the Year
Terms under 6 months made up 10 convictions (38%), the same as the yearly share of 38%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year made up only 1 conviction (4%), compared with 15% for the year.
Sentences longer than one year were adjudged in 5 of 26 convictions (19%), about the same as the 22% for 2024. Of those, 4 (15%) were between 1 and 5 years, the same as the yearly 15%, and 1 (4%) was 5 years or more. Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year. A special court-martial is capped at one year.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 10 | 38% | 25% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 38% | 38% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 1 | 4% | 15% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 15% | 15% |
| 5 years or more | 1 | 4% | 7% |
Fewer Punitive Discharges Than the Year
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge imposed as part of the sentence. This month, 10 of 24 convicted enlisted members received one: 6 bad-conduct and 4 dishonorable. The share was 42%, compared with 58% for the year.
The month's 1 convicted officer or warrant officer was not dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out an administrative separation later.
Contested Share About the Same as the Year
Pleas are listed in 27 of the 30 records. There were 18 guilty pleas, and 9 accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. The contested share was 33%, about the same as the 34% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2024.
Of the 9 contested cases that reached a verdict, 2 ended in a full acquittal.
A Varied Mix of Charges
Charges are listed for 29 of the 30 cases, and a case counts under each article it lists. No article appeared in more than 5 cases. Article 134 (general article) and Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) were the most common, with 5 cases each (17%). The general article was lower than its 22% yearly share. Drug charges were higher than their 14%.
Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 4 cases (14%). Article 107 (false official statements) and Article 121 (larceny) each appeared in 3 (10%), both higher than their yearly shares of 5% and 8%.
Assault under Article 128 was less common than usual, with 2 cases (7%) compared with 16% for the year. Article 90 (willfully disobeying superior officer) and Article 91 (insubordinate conduct toward NCO) also had 2 cases each.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 134 General article | 5 | 17% | 22% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 5 | 17% | 14% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 4 | 14% | 16% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 10% | 5% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 3 | 10% | 8% |
| Art. 128 Assault | 2 | 7% | 16% |
| Art. 90 Willfully disobeying superior officer | 2 | 7% | 4% |
| Art. 91 Insubordinate conduct toward NCO | 2 | 7% | 2% |
Compared With July 2023
July 2023 had 26 cases, and July 2024 had 30. The contested share went from 30% to 33%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 1 of 7 to 2 of 9.
Sentence measures fell. Convictions with confinement fell from 87% to 62%. The median confinement fell from 7 months to 4 months. Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members fell from 64% to 42%. The general court-martial share fell from 46% to 27%. In small monthly groups, a few cases can change a percentage, so these changes show direction, not precise size.
| July 2023 | July 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 26 | 30 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 30% | 33% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 1 of 7 | 2 of 9 |
| Convictions with confinement | 87% | 62% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 64% | 42% |
| General courts-martial | 46% | 27% |
Mostly Special Courts-Martial
General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 27% of these cases (8 of 30). The rest were special courts-martial, where confinement is capped at one year.
Among the accused with rank recorded, 17 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 10 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. That mix was more junior than the year, when 58% were junior enlisted.
Installations and New Rules
Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had 4 cases each. San Diego, California, and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, had 3 each. Bremerton, Washington, had 2. These five account for 53% of the month's cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder. When every guilty finding involves an offense after December 27, 2023, a military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on the offense date, which the records do not give. July 2024 can include cases under both the old and new rules.
What Stays Outside the Data
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. They do not include cases resolved through 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 with a trial date in July 2024 (30 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)
- June 2024 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 27 Cases (previous / next)
- August 2024 at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial: 49 Cases (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2024 (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.