What Okinawa, Japan Tried in 2020
Okinawa, Japan held 23 courts-martial in 2020. Larceny under Article 121 was charged in 30% of cases, compared with 8% across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read
Trends › By Installation › Okinawa, Japan › 2020
Short answer: Okinawa, Japan held 23 courts-martial in 2020. Larceny under Article 121 was charged in 30% of cases, compared with 8% across the Navy and Marine Corps. The median confinement was 4 months, compared with 6 months service-wide, but 7 of 22 convictions brought more than one year of confinement (32%), compared with 26%.
Larceny and Child Sexual Abuse Charges
All 23 records list the charges. Larceny under Article 121 appeared in 7 cases (30%), compared with 8% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 120b (rape and sexual assault of a child) appeared in 6 cases (26%), compared with 9%.
Assault under Article 128 was the most common charge, in 9 cases (39%), close to the 36% service-wide. Article 120 (rape and sexual assault) appeared in 6 cases (26%), compared with 16%. Attempts under Article 80 appeared in 4 cases (17%). Each article counts once per case, so a case with several articles appears in several rows.
| UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 128 Assault | 9 | 39% | 36% |
| Art. 121 Larceny | 7 | 30% | 8% |
| Art. 120 Rape and sexual assault | 6 | 26% | 16% |
| Art. 120b Rape and sexual assault of a child | 6 | 26% | 9% |
| Art. 80 Attempts | 4 | 17% | 11% |
| Art. 107 False official statements | 2 | 9% | 12% |
| Art. 134 General article | 2 | 9% | 13% |
| Art. 92 Failure to obey order or regulation | 2 | 9% | 18% |
A Short Median With a Long Upper End
22 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 19 of those sentences included confinement (86%). The median confinement was 4 months, shorter than the 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps.
Sentences of under 6 months made up 10 of the 22 convictions (45%), compared with 36% service-wide. Sentences of 6 months to 1 year were less common, at 2 convictions (9%) compared with 23%. At the other end, 3 convictions (14%) brought 5 years or more, compared with 6% across the service.
A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 1.5 years or longer. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, the whole Navy and Marine Corps docket |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 14% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 10 | 45% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 2 | 9% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 4 | 18% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 3 | 14% | 6% |
Punitive Discharges Matched the Service Rate
A punitive discharge followed 62% of enlisted convictions, the same as the 62% for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020. Of these, 6 were bad-conduct discharges and 7 were dishonorable discharges.
The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was not dismissed. Dismissal is the officer form of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. All sentences here are adjudged at trial, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.
Compared With 2019
Okinawa tried 25 cases in 2019 and 23 in 2020. The median confinement went from 1.8 years to 4 months. Convictions with confinement went from 90% to 86%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 79% to 62%, and general courts-martial went from 72% of cases to 39%.
With groups this size, a few cases can move each figure, so these changes show direction, not precise size.
| 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 25 | 23 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 1 of 2 | — |
| Convictions with confinement | 90% | 86% |
| Median confinement | 1.8 years | 4 months |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 79% | 62% |
| General courts-martial | 72% | 39% |
Who Was Tried, and at Which Court Level
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 64% of the accused, the same share as across the Navy and Marine Corps. NCOs made up 32% and officers 5%.
General courts-martial made up 9 of the 23 cases (39%), compared with 41% service-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.
Kaneohe Bay and San Diego in 2020
Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay tried 20 cases, with a median confinement of 9 months and punitive discharges for 56% of convicted enlisted members. San Diego, California tried 27 cases, with a median of 6 months and punitive discharges for 48%. Okinawa's median of 4 months was the lowest of the 3, and its punitive discharge share of 62% was the highest.
| Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa, Japan | 23 | — | — | 4 months | 62% |
| Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 20 | — | — | 9 months | 56% |
| San Diego, California | 27 | 15% | 2 of 4 | 6 months | 48% |
Missing Pleas and Other Limits
Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea and who decided guilt, so this page does not report a contested share or full acquittal figures for Okinawa.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Every court-martial tried at Okinawa, Japan with a trial date in 2020 (23 cases).
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
- Okinawa, Japan: Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- What Okinawa, Japan Tried in 2019 (previous / next)
- What Okinawa, Japan Tried in 2021 (previous / next)
- Okinawa, Japan, 2019–2023: Charges, Verdicts, and Sentences in 100 Cases (the whole period)
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018
- A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Okinawa, Japan, 2020
Names and links only. Each judge's record of pleas, findings, and sentences is on their Know Your Judge page, part of the Court-Martial Characters membership.
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.