§ Article 96 : Release of Prisoner Without Authority; Drinking With Prisoner

Article 96 of the UCMJ (10 U.S.C. § 896) covers releasing a prisoner without authority, allowing a prisoner to escape through neglect or design, and unlawfully drinking an alcoholic beverage with a prisoner.

Who It Applies To

Release or escape: any person subject to the UCMJ who, without authority, releases a prisoner, or who, through neglect or design, allows a prisoner to escape — whether or not the prisoner was committed in strict compliance with the law.

Drinking with a prisoner: any person subject to the UCMJ who unlawfully drinks any alcoholic beverage with a prisoner.

What It Covers

Releasing a prisoner without authority

1. A certain person was a prisoner.
2. The accused released the prisoner without authority.

Allowing a prisoner to escape through neglect

1. A certain person was a prisoner.
2. The prisoner escaped.
3. The accused did not take the care to prevent the escape that a reasonably careful person, acting in the accused’s capacity, would have taken in the same or similar circumstances.
4. The escape was the proximate result of that neglect.

Allowing a prisoner to escape through design

1. A certain person was a prisoner.
2. The accused’s design was to allow that prisoner to escape.
3. The prisoner escaped as a result of the accused carrying out that design.

Drinking with a prisoner

1. A certain person was a prisoner.
2. The accused unlawfully drank an alcoholic beverage with that prisoner.

Key rules

• A prisoner is a person in confinement or custody imposed under R.C.M. 302, 304, or 305, or under a court-martial sentence, who has not been set free by someone with authority to release them.
• A release is the removal of restraint by the custodian rather than by the prisoner.
• An escape is allowed through design when the custodian intends it. That intent may be inferred from conduct so wantonly devoid of care that the only reasonable inference is that escape was contemplated as a probable result.
• After an escape, the fact that the prisoner returns, is captured, is killed, or otherwise dies is not a defense.
• For drinking with a prisoner, “unlawful” means without legal justification or excuse. Under the Manual, any drinking with a prisoner is unlawful unless competent authority specifically authorized it.

Maximum Punishment

Maximum authorized punishment.

• Releasing a prisoner without authority: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.
• Allowing a prisoner to escape through neglect: bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.
• Allowing a prisoner to escape through design: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 5 years.
• Drinking with a prisoner: confinement for 1 year and forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 1 year, with no punitive discharge.

Sentencing parameters.

• Releasing a prisoner without authority: Category 2 (1–36 months), with a recommended maximum of 24 months.
• Allowing a prisoner to escape through neglect: Category 1 (0–12 months).
• Allowing a prisoner to escape through design: Category 2 (1–36 months).
• Drinking with a prisoner: Category 1 (0–12 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

Article 96 addresses conduct by the people responsible for, or in contact with, a prisoner. A prisoner’s own escape is addressed by Article 87a, and a prisoner who is drunk is addressed by Article 112. Misconduct by a prisoner held by the enemy is addressed by Article 98.

What the Provision Does

Article 96 covers conduct by persons responsible for, or in contact with, a prisoner: releasing a prisoner without authority, allowing a prisoner to escape through neglect or design, and unlawfully drinking an alcoholic beverage with a prisoner. The maximum confinement ranges from 1 to 5 years depending on the form.

History

Release of a prisoner without authority, and allowing a prisoner to escape, appeared in Article 96 of the original 1950 UCMJ, codified at 10 U.S.C. § 896 in 1956. The Military Justice Act of 2016 (Pub. L. 114-328, § 5413) rewrote the article, effective January 1, 2019, and added drinking with a prisoner, which had previously been charged as an enumerated offense under Article 134.

Sources

• 10 U.S.C. § 896 (Article 96, UCMJ)
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 2024 edition, Part IV, ¶ 24
• Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Appendix 12B and Appendix 12C