What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in June 2020
The records show 36 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2020. Of those, 33 ended in a conviction, and 31 of the 33 sentences included confinement.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Short answer: The records show 36 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in June 2020. Of those, 33 ended in a conviction, and 31 of the 33 sentences included confinement. Punitive discharges were more common than across the year: 24 of 33 convicted enlisted members (73%), compared with 62% for all of 2020. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as for the year.
Discharges More Common Than Usual
All 33 convicted members were enlisted. Of those, 24 received a punitive discharge: 16 bad-conduct discharges and 8 dishonorable discharges. That 73% share was higher than the 62% for the Navy and Marine Corps across 2020.
A punitive discharge is part of the court-martial sentence itself. A sentence without one does not rule out an administrative separation later, and these records do not include administrative separations.
Almost Every Conviction Included Confinement
Only 2 of the 33 convictions (6%) had no confinement, compared with 15% for the year. The median confinement was 6 months, the same as the 6 months for 2020. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.2 years or longer.
These are adjudged sentences: the sentence announced at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.
How Long Were the Sentences?
Terms under 6 months made up 39% of convictions, compared with 36% for the year. Terms from 6 months to 1 year made up 27%, compared with 23%. Sentences longer than one year came in 9 of 33 convictions (27%), about the same as the 26% for the year. Of the 33 convictions, 3 (9%) were sentences of 5 years or more.
Only a general court-martial can impose more than one year of confinement. The 15 general courts-martial had a median confinement of 1.4 years. The 21 special courts-martial, which are capped at one year, had a median of 4 months.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 2 | 6% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 13 | 39% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 9 | 27% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 18% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 9% | 6% |
Child Sexual Abuse and General Article Charges
Charges are listed for 32 of the 36 cases, and each article is counted once per case. Article 128 (assault) was the most common charge, in 11 cases (34%), compared with 36% for the year. Article 112a (wrongful use, possession of controlled substances) was next, in 9 cases (28%), compared with 30%.
2 articles were charged more often than across the year. Article 134, the general article, appeared in 19% of cases, compared with 13%. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 16%, compared with 9%. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) was less common, in 12% of cases compared with 16%.
Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) appeared in 5 cases (16%), compared with 18% for the year. Article 107 (false official statements) and Article 81 (conspiracy) appeared in 3 cases each (9%). Article 107 was lower than its 12% for the year, and Article 81 was higher than its 7%.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 34% | 36% |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 28% | 30% |
| Art. 134 General article | 6 | 19% | 13% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 5 | 16% | 9% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 5 | 16% | 18% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 4 | 12% | 16% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 3 | 9% | 12% |
| Art. 81 Conspiracy | 3 | 9% | 7% |
Convictions on Assault and Drug Charges
For the 2 most common articles, the records show whether the accused was convicted of that article. All 9 Article 112a cases ended in a conviction on that article (9 of 9), with a median confinement of 4 months. Article 128 cases ended in a conviction on that article in 10 of 11 cases (91%), with a median confinement of 9 months.
A single case can include a conviction on one article and an acquittal on another, so these rows overlap.
| Article | Cases charging it | Convicted of it (share) | Median confinement when convicted of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 11 | 10 (91%) | 9 months |
| Art. 112a Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 9 | 9 (9 of 9) | 4 months |
Pleas and Contested Cases
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea. Only 13 of the 36 records here include it. Of those 13, 9 accused pleaded guilty and 4 contested at least one charge.
A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 31%, about the same as the 30% for the year. With only 13 pleas recorded, these counts describe the month but say little about a broader pattern.
What Changed From June 2019
June 2019 had 38 cases, and June 2020 had 36. The contested share was higher, 31% compared with 21%. Full acquittals in contested cases that reached a verdict went from 2 of 3 to 1 of 4.
Convictions with confinement went from 85% to 94%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 59% to 73%. The median confinement went from 7 months to 6 months, and general courts-martial went from 50% of cases to 42%. A few cases can change percentages in groups this small, so these comparisons show direction, not precise change.
| June 2019 | June 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 38 | 36 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 21% | 31% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 3 | 1 of 4 |
| Convictions with confinement | 85% | 94% |
| Median confinement | 7 months | 6 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 59% | 73% |
| General courts-martial | 50% | 42% |
A Young Group of Accused
Among the accused with rank recorded, 26 were junior enlisted and 7 were NCOs. There were 0 officers. The group was more junior than the Navy and Marine Corps for all of 2020. General courts-martial, the level that can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 42% of the cases (15 of 36).
Camp Pendleton, California, tried 8 cases. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 6. San Diego, California, and Bremerton, Washington, tried 4 each, and Okinawa, Japan, tried 2. These five installations account for 67% of the month. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone says nothing about a particular base.
What the Records Do Not Show
The trial records list charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, any plea terms, or misconduct handled without a court-martial.
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 June 2020 (36 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)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in May 2020 (previous / next)
- What the Navy-Marine Corps Tried in July 2020 (previous / next)
- The Navy-Marine Corps Court-Martial Year, 2020 (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.