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 1471–1480 of 2202
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Designation of Acting General Counsel for the Federal Labor Relations Authority
Designation of Acting General Counsel—Federal Labor Relations Authority 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/21886/download.
3/14/1979
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Conveyance of Federal Lands for Airport Development
Federal Aviation Administration—Federal Airport Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 170)—Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 (49 U.S.C. §§ 1716, 1723)—Conveyance of Federal Lands for Airport Development 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/21881/download.
2/16/1979
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Assertion of State Secrets Privilege in Civil Litigation
Assertion of State Secrets Privilege in Civil Litigation 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/21876/download.
2/14/1979
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Transfer of Management Functions Over National Monuments in Admiralty and Misty Fiords, Alaska
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service—Department of the Interior, National Park Service—Management Functions Over National Monuments in Admiralty and Misty Fiords, Alaska—Executive Order No. 6166 (5 U.S.C. § 901 note)—National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. § 1609) 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/21871/download.
2/9/1979
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Employment of Temporary or Intermittent Attorneys and Investigators by the Office of the Special Counsel
Employment of Temporary or Intermittent Attorneys and Investigators—5 U.S.C. § 3109; 31 U.S.C. §§ 665(b), 686(a)—Office of the Special Counsel, Merit Systems Protection Board 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/21866/download.
2/7/1979
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Jurisdiction of the Federal Labor Relations Council in Labor Disputes Concerning the Conditions of Employment of Veterans Administration Personnel
Federal Labor Relations Council—Labor-Management Relations for Executive Agencies (Executive Order No. 11491)—Jurisdiction of the Council in Labor Disputes Concerning the Conditions of Employment of Medical, Dental, and Nursing Personnel of the Veterans Administration 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/21861/download.
2/2/1979
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Legality of Television Surveillance in Government Offices
Constitutional Law—Fourth Amendment—Interception of Oral Communications—Legality of Television Surveillance in Government Offices 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/21856/download.
2/2/1979
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Disclosure of Grand Jury Materials to Attorneys in the Civil Division for Use in Civil Proceedings
Grand Jury—Disclosure—Rule 6(e), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 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/21851/download.
1/26/1979
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Application of the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 to the Components of the Department of Justice
Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 (41 U.S.C. § 501 et seq.)—Application to the Department of Justice—Drug Enforcement Administration—21 U.S.C. § 872(a)(2) 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/21846/download.
1/24/1979
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FBI Disclosure of Criminal History Record Information to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners
Federal Bureau of Investigation—Disclosure of Criminal Record—Admission to the Bar 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/21841/download.
1/22/1979