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 1501–1510 of 2202
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Proposal to Supplement the Salary Paid to Arbitrators Who Are Members of Boards of Inquiry Appointed under 29 U.S.C. § 183
Department of Labor—Boards of Inquiry—Payments to Federal Employees From Non-Government Sources (18 U.S.C. § 209)—Proposed Supplementation of Compensation 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/21756/download.
11/24/1978
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Legality and Propriety of FBI Acquisition of Private Papers
Federal Bureau of Investigation—Constitutional Law—Fourth Amendment—Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 5522)—Acquisition of Private Papers 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/21751/download.
11/16/1978
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Policy on disclosure of information
This memo requested the formation of a working group to determine which Justice Department official(s) must approve the release of departmental information in response to litigation demands.
9/2/2022
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Constitutionality of Cost-Insurance-Freight Basis of Customs Valuation
Constitutional Law—U.S. Tariffs and Customs—Procedures for Levying Ad Valorem Rates of Customs Duties—Cost-Insurance-Freight (CIF) Customs Valuation System 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/21741/download.
11/6/1978
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Effect of the Order in Which the President Signs Two Bills
Enrolled Bills—Effect of Order of Approval by the President—Revenue and Energy Tax Acts of 1978 (26 U.S.C. § 46) 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/21746/download.
11/6/1978
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Proposal to Require Government Contractors to Comply With Wage and Price Guidelines as a Condition of Doing Business With the Government
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. § 481)—Government Contracts—Wage and Price Standards in Government Procurement 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/21736/download.
10/20/1978
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Due Process Requirements in Transferring Inmates From the General Prison Population to Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation (III)
Bureau of Prisons—Involuntary Transfers of Prisoners to Segregation—Due Process Safeguards in Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation 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/21731/download.
10/10/1978
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Whether Department of Justice Employee May Teach Law School Course
Government Officers and Employees—Standards of Conduct (28 CFR 45.735.12)—Outside Employment—Teaching Law School Course 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/21726/download.
10/10/1978
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Participation of the State Department in Producer-Consumer Fora and Other International Negotiations Aimed at Stabilizing International Commodity Markets
The President—Authority to Participate in International Negotiations—Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2101)—Participation in Producer-Consumer Fora 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/21721/download.
10/6/1978
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Tort Liability of the United States and a Commercial Air Carrier Arising Out of Government Action During a Commercial Aircraft Hijacking
Federal Aviation Administration—Federal Bureau of Investigation—Air Transportation Security (49 U.S.C. § 1357(e))—Management of Aircraft Hijacking (49 U.S.C. § 1472(o)) 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/21716/download.
9/29/1978