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 1621–1630 of 2202
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Authority of Secretary of Agriculture to Establish Price Support Program for Sugar Producers Under the Agriculture Act of 1949
Price Support for Sugar Producers—Agriculture Act of 1949 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/21156/download.
8/18/1977
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Legal Questions Raised by the Library of Congress Critique of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1977
Legal Questions Raised by the Library of Congress Critique of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1977 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/21151/download.
8/12/1977
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Legality of Presidential Appointees' Writing Articles and Books for Publication
Executive Order No. 11222—Standards of Conduct—Government Officials Writing Articles and Books 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/21341/download.
8/12/1977
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Dual-Purpose Presidential Advisers
This opinion concludes that the propoed arrangement of "dual-purpose" presidential advisors, who would both advise the president and be amenable to congressional demands for testimony, would erode the doctrine of executive privilege. 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/page/file/1225986/download.
8/11/1977
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Appointment of Members of the National Commission on Neighborhoods
National Commission on Neighborhoods—Appointment of Members 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/21146/download.
7/28/1977
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Disposition of Nixon Memorabilia
Disposition of Nixon Memorabilia 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/21141/download.
7/28/1977
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Appointment of Member of the Federal Election Commission Who Resigned From Federal Service Immediately Prior to Appointment
Federal Election Commission—Appointment of Members (2 U.S.C. § 437) 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/21336/download.
7/22/1977
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Obligation of United States to Compensate Court-Appointed Expert Witnesses in Pending Litigation
Compensation of Court-Appointed Expert Witnesses (United States v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company) 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/21131/download.
7/20/1977
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Proper Agency to Make Payment for the Compensation of Court-Appointed Expert Witnesses in Cases Handled by the Department of Justice
Compensation of Court-Appointed Witnesses 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/21136/download.
7/20/1977
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Retirement Benefits of Tax Court Judges
Retirement Benefits of Tax Court Judges 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/21126/download.
7/7/1977