16 Domestic Violence Courts-Martial at Norfolk, Virginia, 2024–2026: What the Records Show

Trends › By Installation › Norfolk, Virginia › Article 128b, 2024–2026

Based on 16 cases · 2024–2026 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Punitive Discharges Than Service-Wide

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for an enlisted member. For an officer, the equivalent is a dismissal.

At Norfolk, 23% of enlisted convictions in these cases ended with a punitive discharge: 3 bad-conduct discharges and no dishonorable discharges. That is lower than the 47% in all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128b cases in 2024–2026. The group also includes 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, and the records do not show those separations.

How Often Confinement Was Adjudged

Each of the 16 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those 16 convictions, 6 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 months, the same as the 3 months for Navy and Marine Corps Article 128b cases overall.

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, not only the domestic violence charge.

Guilty Pleas and Contested Cases

In 12 cases the accused pleaded guilty. In 4 the accused entered a not-guilty or mixed plea, which makes the case contested. The contested share at Norfolk was 25%, lower than the 31% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 128b cases in 2024–2026.

Other Articles in the Same Cases

Article 128b was charged with at least one other article in 6 of the 16 cases. Article 90 (disobeying an officer) appeared in 3 of them and Article 92 (orders violation) in 2. Article 119b (child endangerment), Article 128 (assault), and Article 112a (drug) each appeared in 1.

Rank and Court Level

Among the accused with rank recorded, 7 were junior enlisted members, 6 were NCOs, and 1 was an officer. This group was more senior than the accused in Navy and Marine Corps Article 128b cases overall.

General courts-martial tried 7 of the 16 cases (44%). A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. Special courts-martial tried the rest. That level caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Cases by Year

The cases were tried from February 2024 to August 2026: 4 in 2024, 5 in 2025, and 7 in 2026. The 2026 count covers only part of the year. Together they were 21% of the 77 courts-martial at Norfolk, Virginia in 2024–2026.

Law Changes and Gaps in the Records

Article 128b applies only to offenses on or after January 1, 2019. It is also a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. When every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters.

Both rules depend on the offense date, and the records give only trial dates. Cases tried from 2024 on therefore include both old-rule and new-rule cases. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 128b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

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.