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 1551–1560 of 2202
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Due Process Requirements in Transferring Inmates From the General Prison Population to Administrative and Disciplinary Segregation
Bureau of Prisons—Inmates—Administrative Segregation—Due Process 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/21551/download.
5/10/1978
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Government Authority to Acquire Leasehold Interests in Real Property Under the Declaration of Taking Act
Eminent Domain—Leaseholds—Rentals—Economy Act Limitation (40 U.S.C. § 278(a)) 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/21546/download.
5/9/1978
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Constitutionality of Bill Allowing Federal Employees to TakeTime Off to Participate in Religious Observances
Constitutional Law—First Amendment—Flexibility in Federal Employee Work Schedules—Religious Observance 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/21541/download.
5/5/1978
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Concurrent Delegations in the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Housing and Urban Development—Delegations of Authority—42 U.S.C. §§ 3533, 3535 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/21536/download.
4/19/1978
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Receipt of Veterans' Benefits by Persons Who Obtained Upgraded Discharges
Veterans—Benefits—Effect of Upgraded Discharges (38 U.S.C.A. 3103) 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/21531/download.
4/7/1978
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Transfer of Funds From the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year to the Committee of the National Women's Conference
National Commission on Observance of International Women's Year—Transfer of Funds—Authority (Public Law 94-107 (1975), 89 Stat. 1003) 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/21526/download.
4/5/1978
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FBI Undercover Practices
In this memo, the OLC advised the FBI regarding the legality of certain undercover practices, including the use of income from the investigation to defray the costs of the investigation, the leasing of property to further the investigation, and depositing money into banks. The OLC concluded that even though it was probably not Congress’ intention to circumvent essential FBI undercover efforts, the broad language of several statutes raised questions about the legality of those practices. The OLC concluded that the long-term solution was corrective legislation and the short-term solution was the OLC and FBI bringing the matter to the attention of the appropriate Congressional committees.
9/2/2022
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Constitutionality of Providing Tax Credits or Grants for Tuition Payments to Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools
Constitutional Law—First Amendment—Establishment Clause—Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Schools—Tuition—Tax Credits 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/21521/download.
3/16/1978
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Service of Acting Administrator of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Beyond Thirty Days Following the Resignation of the Administrator
Vacancy Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 3345—3349)—Law Enforcement Assistance 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/21516/download.
3/16/1978
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Transfer of Responsibility to Make Preliminary Determination of Merits of Federal Employee's Complaint From Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to Civil Rights Commission's Successor Agency
Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978—Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—Transfer of Function 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/21511/download.
3/16/1978