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 201–210 of 2202
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Security Clearance Adjudications by the DOJ Access Review Committee
The notification requirement in section 106(c) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act generally applies when the Department of Justice intends to use information obtained from electronic surveillance against an aggrieved person in an adjudication before the Access Review Committee concerning the Department's revocation of an employee's security clearance. Compliance with the notification requirement in section 106(c) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in particular Access Review Committee adjudications could raise as-applied constitutional questions if such notice would require disclosure of sensitive national security information protected by 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 www.justice.gov/olc/file/2011-06-03-security-clearance-adjud/download.
6/3/2011
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Electronic Presentment and Return of Bills
The use of electronic means of presentment and return of bills is constitutionally permissible. The statutes governing the presentment process could be read as encompassing electronic transmission, but that is not necessarily the most natural reading. In light of the novelty of electronic presentment and return, and the need to ensure that the President and Congress—as well as the public—share a common understanding of the means by which these fundamental steps in the lawmaking process may be carried out, we recommend that, before electronic presentment and return might be used, 1 U.S.C. §§ 106, 106a, and 107 be amended to provide expressly for the permissibility of electronic presentment and that the President and Congress reach an agreement, whether by statute or other means, concerning the permissibility of electronic return of bills. 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/olc/file/2011-05-03-electronic-presentment/download.
5/3/2011
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Authority to Employ White House Officials Exempt from Annual and Sick Leave Act During Appropriations Lapse
White House officials who are exempt from the Annual and Sick Leave Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 6301(2)(x) and (xi) may continue to work during a lapse in the appropriations for their salaries. 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/olc/file/2011-04-08-wh-employ-lapse/download.
4/8/2011
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Authority to Use Military Force in Libya
The President had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force in Libya because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest. Prior congressional approval was not constitutionally required to use military force in the limited operations under consideration. 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/olc/file/2011-04-01-libya-deployment/download.
4/1/2011
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Obligation of Federal Agencies to Pay Stormwater Assessments Under the Clean Water Act
Section 313(c)(2)(B) of the Clean Water Act does not impose a specific-appropriation requirement for the payment of stormwater assessments. Federal agencies may pay appropriate stormwater assessments from annual—including current—lump-sum appropriations. 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/olc/file/2011-02-25-stormwater-assessment/download.
2/25/2011
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Availability of Rights Under the Crime Victims' Rights Act of 2004
The rights provided by the Crime Victims' Rights Act are guaranteed from the time that criminal proceedings are initiated (by complaint, information, or indictment) and cease to be available if all charges are dismissed either voluntarily or on the merits (or if the government declines to bring formal charges after the filing of a complaint). 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/olc/file/2010-12-17-crime-victims/download.
12/17/2010
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Disposition of Proceeds from the Sale of Government Buildings Acquired with Social Security Trust Funds
The General Services Administration is authorized, under section 412 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005, to convey Social Security Administration buildings that were acquired with money derived from the Social Security Trust Funds and to retain the net proceeds in the Federal Buildings Fund. 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/olc/file/2010-12-17-bldgs-ssa-trust-funds/download.
12/17/2010
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Special Master for Troubled Asset Relief Program Executive Compensation
The Special Master for Troubled Asset Relief Program Executive Compensation is not a principal officer for purposes of the Appointments Clause and thus need not be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 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/olc/file/2010-11-05-tarp-special-master/download.
11/5/2010
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NOAA Employee's Receipt of the Göteborg Award for Sustainable Development
Neither the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution nor the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act would bar an employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from accepting the 2010 Göteborg Award for Sustainable Development. 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/olc/file/2010-10-06-noaa-goteberg/download.
10/6/2010
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Applicability of Federal Criminal Laws and the Constitution to Contemplated Lethal Operations Against Shaykh Anwar al-Aulaqi
The opinion, which is partially redacted, considers the lawfulness of using drone strikes to kill a United States citizen. It concludes that the targeted killing of a U.S. citizen is not proscribed by statute and would not violate the Fourth or Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. This OLC opinion was obtained through litigation brought by the ACLU and the New York Times. A copy of the Second Circuit opinion holding that the OLC was obligated to disclose the opinion is available here: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/2014-06-23_ca2-revised-opinion-plus-drone-memo.pdf
6/23/2014