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 1561–1570 of 2202

3/10/1978
Authority of the Department of Justice to Retain Private Legal Counsel

Department of Justice—Retention of Private Counsel—Authority—Defense of Federal Officials 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/21506/download.

3/10/1978
3/8/1978
CIA Investigations of United States Persons in the United States

Central Intelligence Agency—Investigative Authority—United States Citizens—Weissman v. CIA (565 F.2d 692) 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/21501/download.

3/8/1978
3/1/1978
Authority of Department of Transportation to Compensate Parties Intervening in Proceedings Before the Department

Administrative Law—Agency Authority—Payment of Attorneys' Fees—Greene County Planning Board v. Federal Power Commission (559 F.2d 1227) 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/21496/download.

3/1/1978
2/28/1978
Whether U.S. Attorneys Are Inferior Officers Under the Appointments Clause

United States Attorneys—Suggested Appointment Power of the Attorney General—Constitutional Law (Article II, § 2, cl. 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/21491/download.

2/28/1978
2/27/1978
Whether the Arms Control and Disarmament Act RequiresPreparation of an Arms Control Impact Statement for Nonweapons Programs

Arms Control and Disarmament Act (22 U.S.C. § 2576)—Arms Control Impact Statements—Nonweapons Program 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/21486/download.

2/27/1978
2/24/1978
Responsibility and Authority of FBI Agents to Respond to Criminal Offenses Outside the Statutory Jurisdiction of the FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation—Statutory Jurisdiction—Authority of Agents Concerning Non-Federal Offenses 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/21481/download.

2/24/1978
2/23/1978
Effect of Flood Disaster Prevention Act on Executive Order 11988

Flood Disaster Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. § 4106)—Mortgage Loans—Effect of Statute on Executive Order 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/21476/download.

2/23/1978
2/14/1978
Monitoring Administration of Public Educational Television or Radio Broadcasting Facilities Grants

Corporation for Public Broadcasting—Grants—Monitoring Administration of (47 U.S.C. § 392) 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/21471/download.

2/14/1978
2/9/1978
Indemnification of Dresden Exhibit by the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities

Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act (20 U.S.C. § 972)—Statutory Limits—Dresden Exhibit 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/21466/download.

2/9/1978
2/6/1978
Effect of Holdover Provisions of the Legal Services Corporation Act on the President's Authority to Make Recess Appointments to the Corporation's Board of Directors

Recess Appointments—Constitution (Article II, § 2, cl. 3)—Legal Services Corporation—Effect of Statutory Holdover Provisions 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/21461/download.

2/6/1978

Corporation for Public Broadcasting—Grants—Monitoring Administration of (47 U.S.C. § 392) 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/21471/download.

Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act (20 U.S.C. § 972)—Statutory Limits—Dresden Exhibit 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/21466/download.