§ Article 134 : Negligent Homicide

This offense is prosecuted under Article 134 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 934), the General Article. It punishes unlawfully killing another person through simple negligence, without the culpable negligence required for involuntary manslaughter under Article 119.

Disambiguation — this is not Article 134 itself, and is distinct from Article 119

Involuntary manslaughter under Article 119(b) requires culpable negligence — a higher degree of carelessness than ordinary or simple negligence. Negligent homicide under Article 134 addresses an unlawful killing resulting from simple negligence, a lesser degree of fault.

Who It Applies To

Any person subject to the UCMJ whose simple negligence unlawfully causes the death of another person, under circumstances that are prejudicial to good order and discipline or service-discrediting.

What It Covers

1. A certain person is dead.
2. The death resulted from the act or failure to act of the accused.
3. The killing by the accused was unlawful.
4. The act or failure to act that caused the death amounted to simple negligence.
5. Under the circumstances, the accused’s conduct was prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces, was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, or both.

Key rules

• Negligent homicide is any unlawful homicide that results from simple negligence. No intent to kill or injure is required.
• Simple negligence is the absence of due care: an act or omission, by a person under a duty to use due care, that shows a lack of the care for the safety of others that a reasonably careful person would have exercised in the same or similar circumstances. It is a lesser degree of carelessness than culpable negligence.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 3 years.

Sentencing parameters. Category 2 (1–36 months).

The newer sentencing rules apply, subject to the capital-case rules, when the accused is convicted only of offenses committed after 27 December 2023. See How UCMJ Sentencing Rules Apply. The maximum authorized punishment and the applicable sentencing framework do not predict the sentence in a particular case.

Related and Distinguished

Negligent homicide is one of the offenses listed under the General Article. It requires only simple negligence; involuntary manslaughter under Article 119 requires culpable negligence and carries a higher maximum punishment. Negligent discharge of a firearm without a resulting death is addressed by the negligent discharge offense.

What the Provision Does

Not every death caused by carelessness rises to the level of culpable negligence required for manslaughter. This offense addresses a death caused by simple negligence, providing a lesser but still serious basis for accountability.

History

Negligent homicide was an enumerated Article 134 offense in the 2016 edition of the Manual for Courts-Martial (paragraph 85). The 2018 amendments to the Manual (Executive Order 13825), effective January 1, 2019, carried it forward as the current paragraph 103.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 934 (Article 134, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 103
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 17 (Analysis of Punitive Articles)