In the United States v. Briggs case of 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that there is no statute of limitations for military rape cases. The decision came after Michael Briggs, an Air Force captain, was convicted in 2014 for a rape he committed in 2005. He appealed his conviction by arguing that under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), there's a five-year statute of limitations on his crime. However, the UCMJ also states that crimes punishable by death have no time limit to be prosecuted and while rape can carry a death sentence under military law it has not been enforced since 1961. The court had to decide whether this exception applied to rapes committed between 1986 and 2006 when changes were made to how such offenses are handled within the military justice system. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld Briggs' conviction stating that "no time limit should restrict prosecution" as Congress intended sexual assault charges in these circumstances could be brought at any time without any restrictions or exceptions.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Briggs, Justice Gorsuch disagreed with the majority's interpretation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). He argued that Congress intended a five-year statute of limitations for rape charges within military law, and this should be upheld unless explicitly stated otherwise in legislation. The majority interpreted an exception clause to mean there was no time limit on prosecuting rapes committed during wartime. However, Gorsuch contended that this exception only applied when war prevented timely prosecution and did not indefinitely extend the limitation period. He also criticized the court's reliance on recent changes to military law as evidence of past intent, arguing it is inappropriate to use current laws to interpret those from decades ago.