Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the criminal case connected to the assault remains unresolved, with proceedings still stalled in limbo. The attacks killed thousands of people in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard the hijacked aircraft. They also set off a far-reaching U.S. response that included new wars and expanded surveillance programs, reshaping American foreign policy and civil liberties for decades. Yet the effort to bring the alleged perpetrators to trial has moved far more slowly. The case remains entangled in delays more than two decades after the attacks, leaving victims’ families and survivors without a final courtroom resolution. The continuing stalemate raises a fundamental question about accountability: how can the government mobilize enormous resources in response to an attack while leaving the related prosecution unfinished for a generation? The delays have kept the legal chapter of 9/11 open even as the country marks the 25th anniversary and debates the lasting consequences of the government’s response. The unresolved proceedings are part of a broader legacy that includes the human toll of the attacks, the costs of subsequent wars and the ongoing debate over surveillance and government power.