The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit
This Reading Room is a comprehensive database of published opinions written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). It contains the approximately 1,400 opinions published by the OLC in its online database and the opinions produced in Freedom of Information Act litigation brought by the Knight Institute, including opinions about the Pentagon Papers, the Civil Rights Era, and the War Powers Act. It also contains indexes of unclassified OLC opinions written between 1945 and February 15, 1994 (these indexes were created by the OLC and intended to be comprehensive). We have compiled those indexes into a single list here and in .csv format here. This Reading Room also contains an index of all classified OLC opinions issued between 1974 and 2021, except those classified or codeword-classified at a level higher than Top Secret (the OLC created this index, too, and intended it to be comprehensive).
The Knight Institute will continue updating the reading room with new records. To get alerts when the OLC publishes a new opinion in its database, follow @OLCforthepeople on Twitter.
Showing 241–250 of 2202
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Withdrawal of Opinion on CIA Interrogations
A previous opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel concerning interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency is withdrawn and no longer represents the views of the Office. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-06-11-wd-cia-interr-01/download.
6/11/2009
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Assistance of Counsel in Removal Proceedings (II)
The Attorney General's decision in Matter of Compean, Bangaly & J-E-C-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 710 (Att'y Gen. 2009); Assistance of Counsel in Removal Proceedings (I), 33 Op. O.L.C. 1 (2009) (Mukasey, Att'y Gen.), is vacated. The Acting Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review shall initiate rulemaking procedures as soon as practicable to evaluate the pre-Compean framework for reviewing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in deportation proceedings and to determine what modifications should be proposed for public consideration. Pending the issuance of a final rule, the Board of Immigration Appeals and Immigration Judges should apply the pre-Compean standards to all pending and future motions to reopen removal proceedings based upon ineffective assistance of counsel. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-06-03-compean-02/download.
6/3/2009
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Legislation Prohibiting Spending for Delegations to U.N. Agencies Chaired by Countries That Support International Terrorism
Section 7054 of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2009—which purports to prohibit all funds made available under title I of that Act from being used to pay the expenses for any United States delegation to a specialized U.N. agency, body, or commission that is chaired or presided over by a country with a government that the Secretary of State has determined supports international terrorism—unconstitutionally infringes on the President's authority to conduct the Nation's diplomacy, and the State Department may disregard it. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-06-01-un-delegs/download.
6/1/2009
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Statutory Rollback of Salary to Permit Appointment of Member of Congress to Executive Office
Where a salary increase for an office would otherwise create a bar to appointment of a member of Congress under the Ineligibility Clause, compliance with the Clause can be achieved by legislation rolling back the salary of the executive office before the appointment. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-05-20-rollback/download.
5/20/2009
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Participation of Members of Congress in the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission
Provisions in the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act of 2009 establishing that six of eleven commissioners of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission would be members of Congress, appointed by congressional leadership, would raise concerns under the Appointment Clause, the Ineligibility Clause, and the separation of powers. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-04-21-reagan-commn/download.
4/21/2009
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Withdrawal of Four Opinions on CIA Interrogations
Four previous opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel concerning interrogations by the Central Intelligence Agency are withdrawn and no longer represent the views of the Office. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-04-15-wd-cia-interr-04/download.
4/15/2009
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Constitutionality of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act of 2009
The constitutionality of the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009 presents a close question, but the balance tips in favor of finding the Act constitutional. Neither the text of the Constitution nor the analysis of applicable precedent clearly resolves the question of whether Congress may confer House voting rights on D.C. residents by legislation. In the absence of a clear constitutional prohibition, the Constitution does not require denying the most basic rights in a democracy—the right to elect representation in the legislature and therefore to self-governance—to U.S. citizens who happen to be residents of the District of Columbia. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-02-26-dc-house-ag/download.
2/26/2009
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Views on Legislation Making the District of Columbia a Congressional District
The District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009 is unconstitutional. Congress may not by statute give the District of Columbia voting representation in the House. The District of Columbia is not a "State" within the meaning of the Composition Clause, which governs the membership of the House of Representatives. The District Clause gives Congress broad power to legislate for the District, but it does not permit Congress to override the prescriptions of the Composition Clause. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-02-25-dc-house-olc/download.
2/25/2009
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Authority of Acting FBI Officials to Sign National Security Letters
Under the statutes authorizing the FBI to issue national security letters, the Director of the FBI may designate Acting Deputy Assistant Directors and Acting Special Agents in Charge to sign national security letters. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-01-16-acting-fbi-nsl/download.
1/16/2009
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Status of Certain Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
Certain propositions stated in several opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel in 2001—2003 respecting the allocation of authorities between the President and Congress in matters of war and national security do not reflect the current views of this Office. 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-01-15-wd-911/download.
1/15/2009