10 U.S.C. § 896
Section 896 · Art. 96. Releasing prisoner without proper authority
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Felty (1982)
Most recently applied in United States v. New (June 2001)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Release of Prisoner Without Authority.—Any person subject to this chapter—
(1) who, without authority to do so, releases a prisoner; or
(2) who, through neglect or design, allows a prisoner to escape;
shall be punished as a court-martial may direct, whether or not the prisoner was committed in strict compliance with the law.
(b) Drinking With Prisoner.—Any person subject to this chapter who unlawfully drinks any alcoholic beverage with a prisoner shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words "whether or not the prisoner was committed in strict compliance with law" are substituted for the word "duly", to reflect the long standing construction expressed in the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1951, par. 175a.
Amendments
2016—Pub. L. 114–328 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "Any person subject to this chapter who, without proper authority, releases any prisoner committed to his charge, or who through neglect or design suffers any such prisoner to escape, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct, whether or not the prisoner was committed in strict compliance with law."
Effective Date of 2016 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on Jan. 1, 2019, as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under section 801 of this title.