Reading Room Document

Possible Criminal Charges Against American Citizen Who Was A Member Of the al Qaeda Terrorist Organization or the Taliban Militia

This opinion reviews possible charges against John Walker, a U.S. citizen serving in the Taliban militia and later al Qaeda before his capture. The opinion concludes that Walker can be either court-martialed or charged in the Federal court with treason, killing a federal employee, assisting a terrorist organization, or unlawfully participating in foreign affairs. 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/aclu-ii-122101.pdf.

January 21, 2001