> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Year of Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina: 2020 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2020/ - Published: 2026-10-30T08:13:11.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T08:13:11.000Z - Description: In 2020, Parris Island, South Carolina held 14 courts-martial, and drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 50% of them, compared with 30% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 43%, compared with 18%. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Parris Island, South Carolina, Navy-Marine Corps [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Installation](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-installation/) › [Parris Island, South Carolina](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-parris-island-south-carolina/) › 2020 **Short answer:** In 2020, Parris Island, South Carolina held 14 courts-martial, and drug charges under Article 112a appeared in 50% of them, compared with 30% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020\. Article 92 (orders violation) appeared in 43%, compared with 18%. A punitive discharge followed 77% of enlisted convictions, compared with 62% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Based on 14 cases · 2020 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## Drug and Orders Charges All 14 records list the charges. Article 112a (wrongful use or possession of controlled substances) was the most common charge, in 7 cases. Article 92 (failure to obey an order or regulation) was next, in 6 cases. Both shares were higher than across the Navy and Marine Corps. Assault under Article 128 appeared in 3 cases (21%), lower than the 36% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Article 134 (general article) also appeared in 3 cases. Article 120c (other sexual misconduct) appeared in 2 cases, or 14%, compared with 4%. Article 131b (obstructing justice) also appeared in 2 cases, compared with 7% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A case with 3 articles appears in 3 rows of the table. | UCMJ Article | Cases | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in those years | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | [Art. 112a](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-112a-drug-offenses/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Wrongful use, possession of controlled substances | 7 | 50% | 30% | | [Art. 92](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-92/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Failure to obey order or regulation | 6 | 43% | 18% | | [Art. 128](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-128/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Assault | 3 | 21% | 36% | | [Art. 134](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-134/?ref=bodiesburied.com) General article | 3 | 21% | 13% | | [Art. 120](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Rape and sexual assault | 2 | 14% | 16% | | [Art. 107](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-107/?ref=bodiesburied.com) False official statements | 2 | 14% | 12% | | Art. 131b Obstructing justice | 2 | 14% | 7% | | [Art. 120c](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120c/?ref=bodiesburied.com) Other sexual misconduct | 2 | 14% | 4% | ## Punitive Discharges for Most Convicted Enlisted Members A punitive discharge followed 77% of enlisted convictions: 7 bad-conduct discharges and 3 dishonorable discharges. The share across the Navy and Marine Corps was 62%. A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## How Long Was the Confinement? All 14 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of those sentences, 12 included confinement (86%). The median confinement was 8 months, longer than the 6-month median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 4.3 years or longer. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each one covers every charge in the case. ## Parris Island, Kaneohe Bay, and Okinawa Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay tried 20 cases in 2020, and Okinawa, Japan tried 23\. Parris Island had the highest punitive discharge rate of these installations, at 77%, compared with 56% at Kaneohe Bay and 62% at Okinawa. The median confinement was 9 months at Kaneohe Bay and 4 months at Okinawa. | Installation | Cases | Contested | Full acquittals (decided contested) | Median confinement | Punitive discharge (enlisted) | | ------------------------------------- | ----- | --------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------- | | Parris Island, South Carolina | 14 | 0 of 1 | — | 8 months | 77% | | Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay | 20 | — | — | 9 months | 56% | | Okinawa, Japan | 23 | — | — | 4 months | 62% | ## Rank and Court Level Among the accused with rank recorded, 6 were junior enlisted members and 7 were NCOs. No officers were tried. The group was more senior than the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole. General courts-martial made up 4 of the 14 cases (29%), compared with 41% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. ## Missing Pleas and Other Limits Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so this page does not report a contested share or acquittals. The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms, and they do not show nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations. Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/). ### How We Counted Every court-martial tried at Parris Island, South Carolina with a trial date in 2020 (14 cases). Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com. ## Related Analysis - [Parris Island, South Carolina: Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/courts-martial-at-parris-island-south-carolina/) (hub) - [By Year](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-year/) (hub) - [A Year of Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina: 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2018/) (previous / next) - [What Parris Island, South Carolina Tried in 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2023/) (previous / next) - [Inside 44 Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina, 2019–2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2019-2023/) (the whole period) - [A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2015](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/bremerton-washington-courts-martial-2015/) - [A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/bremerton-washington-courts-martial-2017/) - [A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/bremerton-washington-courts-martial-2018/) - [A Year of Courts-Martial at Bremerton, Washington: 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/bremerton-washington-courts-martial-2020/) - [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members) ← Previous: [A Year of Courts-Martial at Parris Island, South Carolina: 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2018/)Next: [What Parris Island, South Carolina Tried in 2023](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/parris-island-south-carolina-courts-martial-2023/) → ## Military Judges Who Presided Over Cases at Parris Island, South Carolina, 2020 - [Eric Catto](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judge-eric-catto/) 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/judges/) 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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.