We have a similar problem. My son has a felony conviction but was told by some buddies that not all states recognize UCMJ. I pray that this is true. Anyone have any knowledge on this? Thx & God bless!
All states "recognize" the UCMJ, but the term "UCMJ" covers a vast amount of legal ground. Under the Uniform Code for Military Justice (UCMJ) you can have anything from a general court martial for rape/homicide punishable by death, down to an Article 15 'mast' for failing to salute where the offendor just gets a tongue lashing- and that is just the "punitive" articles.
The UCMJ does not explicitly divide crimes into "felonies" or "misdemeanors" (or grades thereof), which can cause confusion because many state laws/restrictions apply to "felons" or such. There are some basic guidelines as to what "counts" as a felony and what does not, but as is often the case there are exceptions and constant changes to the law across the 50 states. Generally speaking, I'd say that states have been becoming more broad in their willingness to classify someone as a felon. You run into the same complications with "sex offendor registration" laws - since the laws vary from state to state a person who may have to register in one state may not have to in another. A crime that may qualify as a "sex crime" in one state might not qualify in another, particularly if the crimes are not defined precisely the same way in the two states.
This causes real problems for attorneys (including JAG attorneys) who are trying to counsel clients. If I'm a lawyer practicing in California, for example, it can be problematic if someone asks "What effect will this conviction have on me if I move to Montana 9 years from now?".