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 341–350 of 2202
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Voluntary Departure from Occupied Territory
This opinion concludes that Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions only prohibits "deportation" and does not prohibit the "voluntary relocation" of a protected person from occupied Iraq. 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-071604.pdf.
7/16/2004
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Applicability of Anti-Discrimination Statutes to the Presidio Trust
The issue the Presidio Trust has presented is of the sort that Executive Order 12146 calls upon the Attorney General, and hence the Office of Legal Counsel, to resolve. The Presidio Trust is exempt from section 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and section 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to the extent that these statutes apply to the appointment, compensation, duties, or termination of Trust employees, but not otherwise. 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/file/18856/download.
6/22/2004
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Application of 18 U.S.C. § 207(f) to a Former Senior Employee
Title 18, section 207(f) of the U.S. Code prohibits a former senior employee of an executive branch department from representing a foreign entity before members of Congress within one year of the termination of his employment. 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/file/18851/download.
6/22/2004
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Authority of Agency Officials to Prohibit Employees From Providing Information to Congress
Consistent with longstanding Executive Branch positions, Department of Health and Human Services officials have the authority to prohibit officers or employees of the Department from providing information to Congress. 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/file/18866/download.
5/21/2004
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Advice to the Department of Defense on Interrogations
This opinion reiterates the conclusion of a prior OLC opinion, that the four techniques for interrogation of a prisoner at Guantanamo would be lawful, if justified by military necessity and conducted with a variety of safeguards. The opinion notes that the DOD's Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations reached the same conclusion. 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/dod-interrogations.pdf.
5/11/2004
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Review of the Legality of the STELLAR WIND Program
This opinion comprehensively reviews the STELLAR WIND program, a program of electronic surveillance within the United States. It concludes that the president has the legal authority to authorize the STELLAR WIND program, and that the program complies with the Fourth Amendment. In addition, this opinion concludes that although STELLAR WIND may violate certain restrictions set out by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) or its amendments in the PATRIOT Act, the sweeping congressional authorization after 9/11 suggests that FISA should not be applied to STELLAR WIND. This opinion further concludes that FISA itself should be deemed unconstitutional due to its infringement on the president's power as Commander-in-chief. 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/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2014/09/19/may_6_2004_goldsmith_opinion.pdf.
5/6/2004
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Constitutionality of Certain FBI Intelligence Bulletins
This opinion examines whether two FBI bulletins, regarding monitoring certain protests, violated the First Amendment or otherwise unconstitutionally blurred the distinction between lawful protest activity and illegal terrorist acts. The opinion concludes that the FBI's surveillance tactics are consistent with the First Amendment, since they neither restrict nor chill the message or expressive conduct of the protestors. 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-fbi-bulletins.pdf.
4/5/2004
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Mechanisms for Funding Intelligence Centers
Agencies may use the Economy Act to pay for facilities and services provided by the Terrorist Threat Integration Center and the Terrorist Screening Center. It is within the reasonable discretion of fiscal officers to compute the "actual cost" to be charged for those facilities and services. 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/file/21401/download.
3/19/2004
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Status of National Veterans Business Development Corporation
The National Veterans Business Development Corporation is a "Government corporation" under 5 U.S.C. § 103 and an "agency" under 31 U.S.C. § 9102. 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/file/18861/download.
3/19/2004
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"Protected Person" Status in Occupied Iraq Under the Fourth Geneva Convention
The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (IV) governs the United States occupation of Iraq. The following persons, if captured in occupied Iraq, are not "protected persons" within the meaning of article 4 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: U.S. nationals, nationals of a State not bound by the Convention, nationals of a co-belligerent State, and operatives of the al Qaeda terrorist organization who are not Iraqi nationals or permanent residents of Iraq. 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/file/18871/download.
3/18/2004