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 1641–1650 of 2202
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Service by Members of Congress on National Commission on Neighborhoods
"Office under the United States"—National Commission on Neighborhoods 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/21081/download.
6/2/1977
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Impact of Weissman v. CIA on Executive Order 11905.
9/2/2022
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Applicability of Hatch Act to Service by United States Attorney and Assistants as Delegates to the Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention
United States Attorney, Virgin Islands—Hatch Act Applicability 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/21076/download.
5/31/1977
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Application of Department of Justice Attorney to Argue Civil Rights Case for Private Plaintiffs
Standards of Conduct—Application Pursuant to 28 CFR § 45.735-9(c) 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/21061/download.
5/24/1977
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Determination of Date of Commencement of Service of Members of the Renegotiation Board
Determination of Date of Commencement of Service of Federal Officers—Renegotiation 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/21071/download.
5/24/1977
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President's Authority To Appoint an Acting Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board
President's Authority To Appoint an Acting Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics 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/21066/download.
5/24/1977
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Executive Privilege
This opinion outlines the doctrine of executive privilege as it relates to requests from congressional committees for executive branch information and documents, including historical precedents and recent practices. 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/1225981/download.
5/23/1977
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Legal and Ethical Aspects of Temporary Exchange of Duties by Assistant United States Attorneys and Assistant Federal Public Defenders
Interchange of Counsel Project—Assistant United States Attorneys and Assistant Public Defenders 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/21056/download.
5/17/1977
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Detail of Department of Justice Attorneys to Congressional Committees
Detail of Department of Justice Attorneys to Congressional Committees 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/21051/download.
5/16/1977
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Memo for James R. Schlesinger from John M. Harmon
This memo summarizes several legal issues discussed in a 1977 meeting with the president, including limitations on the Defense Production Act of 1950, the President's power to enter international arrangements without Congressional approval, and obligations of the U.S. to the International Energy Agency. The OLC does not provide release dates for its memo, so the release date listed is the date on which the memo was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/936071/download.
5/12/1977