what does a summary court martial mean

[chilipepper68]

What is the name of your state? confused
Does a summary court martial conviction mean anything in the civilian world? I mean do you have to answer yes on an application when it asks about misdemeanor? I have heard it does not equal that, but I wanted to be sure so that I dont get disqualified for lying. Dont really want to talk about the CM either. thanks for the help

 

[badapple40]

It depends on the circumstances of the court-martial (e.g. what you were convicted of), when the court-martial occurred, and what the sentence was.

You almost certainly need to answer YES to a misdemeanor question.

You MIGHT have to answer YES to a felony question.

We can't tell you unless we know more facts.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

05 JULY 06

The truth can never lie; it ca be artfully and judiciously confused; but, in natural law it can never lie; oh, and humans do at times!

Anything that negatively impacts your military record will surely follow you in the civilian world, however, there are legal avenues to take care of a lot of it so it will not hinder you; but some positions require a security cleareance and this is where you have a problem!

 

[Betty]

It depends whether it is a felony - usually considered a felony if the max. permissible punishment for the offense is 1 yr. or more in prison. It doesn't matter what the punishment was - it is what could have been imposed.
On any application - such as an app. for employment you need to answer yes to misdemeanor or felony question - whatever the case may be. We don't know from the info you gave us. If you would lie, they probably would find out anyway when doing a background check.

 

[SJMAK]

To say things like:
"You almost certainly need to answer YES to a misdemeanor question."
"You MIGHT have to answer YES to a felony question."
"you need to answer yes to misdemeanor or felony question"
"You MIGHT have to answer YES to a felony question."
"Anything that negatively impacts your military record will surely follow you in the civilian world"

Are respectfully not the greatest advice.
Things are a little more complex when it comes to a Court-Martial transferring over to Civilian.
A summary court-martial (SCM) is designed to resolve charges involving minor incidents of misconduct, it is the lowest of three levels of Court-Martial. General being the highest and Special being in the middle.
The best description of a SCM's effects I found is:

"Generally, a summary court-martial is not considered a conviction and does not carry the same loss of benefits that a conviction by a general or special court-martial would carry. For example, a finding of guilty at a summary court-martial for domestic violence does not trigger the provisions of federal law that prohibit possession of a firearm. A summary court-martial conviction may, however, form the basis for a future administrative separation and/or bar to reenlistment."
(source: Summary Court Martial Guide for Accused - Avvo.com)


I know this thread is old, but the previous replies were misguided and assumptive to say the least.
Hope this helps anyone who comes across this post in the future.

 

[SkyBlue1220]

Thank you for taking the time...

SJMAK, that was very informative and highly appreciated. Thank you.