UCMJ Article 123a: Making, Drawing, or Uttering a Check Without Sufficient Funds
A service member who writes a check knowing the account cannot cover it has not merely made a financial misstep. Under Article 123a of the Uniform…
UCMJ Article 118: Murder
Article 118 is the murder article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 918. It defines the unlawful killing of a human…
UCMJ Article 131g: Wrongful Interference with an Adverse Administrative Proceeding
Not every action that can end a military career runs through a court-martial. A service member can lose a security clearance, be reduced in grade, be…
UCMJ Article 84: Breach of Medical Quarantine
Breach of medical quarantine is one of the newest offenses in military criminal law. It punishes a service member who, after being lawfully ordered into medical…
UCMJ Article 124: Frauds Against the United States
A military pay system that moves billions of dollars in salary, allowances, travel reimbursement, and procurement depends on the honesty of the people who file claims…
UCMJ Article 87a: Resistance, Flight, Breach of Arrest, and Escape
Article 87a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 887a, criminalizes the various ways a service member can defeat or break free…
UCMJ Article 93: Cruelty and Maltreatment
Article 93 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice addresses a specific kind of wrong: the abuse of authority. It does not punish harm in the…
UCMJ Article 134: The General Article
Article 134 is the catch-all of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Codified at 10 U.S.C. 934, its text is short and sweeping. It provides that,…
UCMJ Article 98: Misconduct as a Prisoner
Misconduct as a prisoner is the military offense committed by a captured service member who betrays fellow captives, either by trading on the enemy for personal…
UCMJ Article 116: Riot or Breach of Peace
Public disorder threatens an institution that depends on discipline more acutely than it threatens ordinary civilian life, and Article 116 of the Uniform Code of Military…
UCMJ Article 100: Subordinate Compelling Surrender
The decision to surrender a position, a vessel, or a body of troops belongs to the commander. Article 100 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,…
UCMJ Article 105a: False or Unauthorized Pass Offenses
A military pass, permit, discharge certificate, or identification card is the document that tells a gate guard, a finance clerk, or a records office that the…
UCMJ Article 134: Disloyal Statements
Disloyal statements is one of the enumerated offenses prosecuted under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the general article codified at 10 U.S.C.…
UCMJ Article 97: Unlawful Detention
The power to take away another person's liberty is among the gravest authorities the military entrusts to its members. A commander can order pretrial confinement, military…
UCMJ Article 123: Offenses Concerning Government Computers
Article 123 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice is one of the newer punitive articles, and its current subject matter surprises people who remember the…
UCMJ Article 125: Kidnapping
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, kidnapping is the crime of wrongfully taking and holding another person against that person's will. The article reaches more…
UCMJ Article 128a: Maiming
Maiming sits at the far end of the violent-offense spectrum in military law, just short of homicide. It is the offense reserved for intentional violence that…
UCMJ Article 85: Desertion
Article 85 is the desertion article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 885. It punishes a service member who leaves or…
UCMJ Article 87: Missing Movement and Jumping from Vessel
Article 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice gathers two distinct offenses under one heading. The first, missing movement, punishes a service member who fails…
UCMJ Article 121a: Fraudulent Use of Credit Cards, Debit Cards, and Other Access Devices
When Congress overhauled the punitive articles in 2016, it recognized that the law of theft written for a world of carried-away property no longer fit a…
UCMJ Article 95: Offenses by Sentinel or Lookout
A sentinel or lookout holds the security of an entire force in a single set of hands. Article 95 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice…
UCMJ Article 120a: Mails: Deposit of Obscene Matter
Article 120a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 920a, makes it a military offense to use the mail to send obscene…
UCMJ Article 113: Drunken or Reckless Operation of a Vehicle, Aircraft, or Vessel
Article 113 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 913, is the military's drunk-driving and reckless-operation statute, but its reach is wider…
UCMJ Article 96: Release of Prisoner Without Authority
A military confinement system works only if the people who run it cannot let prisoners go on their own initiative. The decision to confine someone, and…
UCMJ Article 103a: Espionage
Article 103a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, codified at 10 U.S.C. 903a, is the military's modern espionage offense. It punishes a person who delivers…