UCMJ Article 87b: Offenses Against Correctional Custody and Restriction
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Article 87b covers three ways of defying a low-level restraint: escaping from correctional custody (dishonorable discharge, 1 year), breaching correctional custody (bad-conduct discharge, 6 months), and breaking restriction (1 month and forfeiture of two-thirds pay for 1 month). Correctional custody is a punishment imposed under Article 15; restriction can come from several sources, including nonjudicial punishment, a court-martial sentence, or a pretrial order.
Three subsections of § 887b
10 U.S.C. § 887b has three subsections:
| Offense | Statute | Elements (MCM ¶ 13.b) |
|---|---|---|
| Escape from correctional custody | § 887b(a) | Placed in correctional custody by an authorized person; under physical restraint while in it; freed oneself from that physical restraint before release by proper authority |
| Breach of correctional custody | § 887b(b) | Placed in correctional custody by an authorized person; under a restraint other than physical restraint; went beyond its limits before release or relief by proper authority |
| Breach of restriction | § 887b(c) | Ordered restricted to certain limits by an authorized person; knew of the restriction and its limits; went beyond them before release by proper authority |
The article was added by the Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5407), effective January 1, 2019.
Correctional custody is an Article 15 punishment
The Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 13.c(1), describes escape from correctional custody as the act of “a person undergoing the punishment of correctional custody pursuant to Article 15.” Correctional custody is imposed through nonjudicial punishment, not by a court-martial. Who may impose it is governed by Part V of the Manual. Whether a person’s status authorized them to impose it is a question of law for the military judge; whether the person who imposed it had that status is a question of fact (¶ 13.c(3)).
The line between the two correctional custody offenses is the kind of restraint. Escape is casting off a physical restraint imposed by the custodian or by the place or conditions of custody. Breach is going beyond some other form of restraint imposed during that period, in the absence of physical restraint (¶ 13.c(1)-(2)).
What counts as restriction
Restriction is “the moral restraint of a person imposed by an order directing a person to remain within certain specified limits” (¶ 13.c(4)). The Manual lists four sources:
- pretrial restriction under R.C.M. 304(a)(2);
- restriction imposed as nonjudicial punishment under Part V;
- restriction adjudged by a court-martial under R.C.M. 1003(b)(5); and
- administrative restriction “in the interest of training, operations, security, or safety.”
The breach offense requires knowledge of the restriction and its limits, and the person who ordered it must have had authority to do so.
From 1 month to 1 year
From ¶ 13.d:
| Offense | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Escape from correctional custody | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 1 year |
| Breach of correctional custody | Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 6 months |
| Breach of restriction | 1 month; forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 1 month |
Arrest and confinement are different offenses
Restriction is a lesser restraint than arrest. Breaking arrest, and escaping from custody after apprehension or from confinement, are charged under Article 87a, with maximums from 6 months for breaking arrest to 5 years for escape from post-trial confinement (¶ 12.d). Leaving the restricted limits and then staying away can also bring a charge of absence without leave under Article 86, since the two offenses protect different things.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 887b, Article 87b, Offenses against correctional custody and restriction (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 13
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.