Opinion ID: 615944
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: 1 Whether NJP Involves an Affirmative Disability or Restraint

Text: A punishment that involves imprisonment or another form of restraint is more likely to be criminal, rather than civil, in nature. See Hudson, 522 U.S. at 104, 118 S.Ct. 488; Trogden, 476 F.Supp.2d at 569-70. NJP includes the possibility of 30 days correctional custody under certain circumstances. 10 U.S.C. § 815(b)(2)(B). Correctional custody may include confinement at hard labor, punishment the Supreme Court has recognized as the military equivalent of imprisonment. Middendorf, 425 U.S. at 35, 96 S.Ct. 1281. Thus, although Reveles was not ultimately subjected to such punishment, NJP may involve[ ] an affirmative disability or restraint. Rivera, 194 F.3d at 1068 (citing Hudson, 522 U.S. at 99, 118 S.Ct. 488). But as the Court stated in Middendorf, the fact that confinement will be imposed in the first instance as a result of [a] proceeding [does not] make it a `criminal prosecution.' Middendorf, 425 U.S. at 35-37, 96 S.Ct. 1281 (citing various cases and noting differences between the adversarial nature of criminal proceedings and noncriminal proceedings). This is especially true in the NJP setting where the maximum correctional custody term is limited to 30 days. This factor favors considering NJP to be criminal in nature.