Reading Room Document

Potential Legal Constraints Applicable to Interrogations of Persons Captured by U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan

This opinion examines whether Miranda v. Arizona (1966) poses legal constraints on the admissibility of statements made by Afghan detainees during interrogation in U.S. Court. The report concludes that, while statements made during custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings are admissible in military proceedings, the admissibility of these statements in federal courts depends on whether the interrogation serves the purpose of regulating the practices of law enforcement or obtaining information for military operations and intelligence. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/docs/memo-constraints-feb2002.pdf.

February 26, 2002