§ 853. Art. 53. Findings and sentencing

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(a)Announcement.— A court-martial shall announce its findings and sentence to the parties as soon as determined.

(b)Sentencing Generally.—

(1)General and special courts-martial.— Except as provided in subsection

(c)for capital offenses, if the accused is convicted of an offense in a trial by general or special court-martial, the military judge shall sentence the accused. The sentence determined by the military judge constitutes the sentence of the court-martial.

(2)Summary courts-martial.— If the accused is convicted of an offense in a trial by summary court-martial, the court-martial shall sentence the accused.

(c)Sentencing for Capital Offenses.—

(1)In general.— In a capital case, if the accused is convicted of an offense for which the court-martial may sentence the accused to death—

(A)the members shall determine—

(i)whether the sentence for that offense shall be death or life in prison without eligibility for parole; or

(ii)whether the matter shall be returned to the military judge for determination of a lesser punishment; and

(B)the military judge shall sentence the accused for that offense in accordance with the determination of the members under subparagraph (A).

(2)Lesser authorized punishments.— In accordance with regulations prescribed by the President, the military judge may include in any sentence to death or life in prison without eligibility for parole other lesser punishments authorized under this chapter.

(3)Other non-capital offenses.— In a capital case, if the accused is convicted of a non-capital offense, the accused shall be sentenced for such non-capital offense in accordance with subsection (b), regardless of whether the accused is convicted of an offense for which the court-martial may sentence the accused to death.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 56; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LVII, § 5236, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2916; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(c)(1)(G), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1598; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title V, § 539E(a), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1700.)

The word “A” is substituted for the word “Every”.

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