Over the last decade, there has been a steady stream of sentencing reforms within the military justice system, although many of the previous decades’ reforms did not go nearly as far. As per an overview of reforms published by the American Bar Association, only a military judge is authorized to issue sentences in non-capital courts-martial for crimes committed after December 27, 2023.
Manslaughter under Article 119 became one of several violent covered offenses prosecuted by the Office of Special Trial Counsel. These provisions and reforms were put in place on December 28, 2023. These changes altered almost all parts of how a homicide case gets processed.
The sentence for manslaughter in military courts is different in civilian courts. This is because it follows the unique aspect of the military system. A manslaughter sentence in a state court is influenced by statutory penalties and applicable sentencing guidelines, which is very unlike the process in the military system.
Let’s look at how manslaughter is sentenced as a military case.
Two Kinds of Manslaughter Under the UCMJ
The Uniform Code of Military Justice divides manslaughter into voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter applies to cases that would be considered murder except that the killing occurred in the heat of sudden passion caused by adequate provocation. Involuntary manslaughter, however, applies to cases in which the death was unintentional and caused by culpable negligence.
This distinction becomes most obvious when the individual is sentenced. Each military offense in the Manual for Courts-Martial has a maximum sentence and punishment as dictated by the President. For this reason, each type of manslaughter also carries a different maximum sentence.
Defense work in this area tends to follow the bases. Service members who have been charged can hire civilian lawyers like military defense attorney Aaron Meyer, a former Marine who works in general and special courts-martial, as well as administrative separation boards for service members.
Many attorneys who focus on defending service members in the military system also focus on serving people at specific locations. In many instances, their work with different clients gives them insight on command practices, in addition to being well-acquainted with military law.
Who Sets the Sentence Now
For decades, a service member could often choose to have members of a panel, the military equivalent of a jury, decide the sentence. The American Bar Association explained that the new law removes jury sentencing from cases that don’t involve the death penalty. A military judge decides the sentence for non-capital offenses committed after December 27, 2023.
The judge also works within new sentencing parameters. As stated in the ABA report, the military sentencing parameters should take into account the severity of the offense, what offense would apply to the case if a federal district court were trying it, the need for wide discretion to accommodate both the defendant and the offense, and other unique military considerations.
The military practice of sentencing has changed so that military courts apply binding sentencing parameters comparable to federal guidelines. Also, judges may depart from the range only on specific findings.
What a Court-Martial Sentence Can Include
Court-martial sentencing can reach beyond imprisonment. Depending on the situation, sentencing may include any combination of punitive discharge, reduction in rank, and/or forfeiture of pay.
Punishment by bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge remains a sentence after confinement. There are some civilian opportunities that bad-conduct or dishonorable discharges can limit, like eligibility for veteran benefits.
What Tends to Move a Sentence
Various mitigation factors can influence how a military judge sentences a service member convicted of manslaughter. Military judges can normally look into a service member’s deployments and past records. There are many other factors, such as the relationship between the accused and the victim, remorse, alcohol, and the role of combat trauma, that military judges consider in determining a sentence.
The prosecution presents matters in aggravation. They do so by describing the impact of the death on the victim’s family and friends. This impact includes the pain caused to the victim’s loved ones and their unit or co-workers. This evidence is then used as justification for the ultimate sentence as provided for in the law.
In more recent years, military manslaughter cases have been tried under much stricter, more formal sentencing processes. Service members and their loved ones now find understanding how the newly instituted Office of Special Trial Counsel, the removal of the panel, and how sentencing parameters all work together to provide much more certainty when trying to anticipate the length of a sentence.
