Reading Room Document
Legal Effect of Executive Order 12146 on Access to Agency Legal Opinions
This memo found that Executive Order 12146 did not impose a legal restriction on the discretion of federal agencies to determine that legal opinions may be withheld under Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act. The order expressed a presidential policy goal that ”legal opinions should be disclosed in cases in which no harm will result from disclosure” but did not change any of the relevant statutory standards.
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit