Showing 2091–2100 of 2202

• 8/30/1962

  Authority Under International Law to Take Action If the Soviet Union Establishes Missile Bases in Cuba

  In the event that missile bases should be established in Cuba by the Soviet Union, international law would permit use by the United States of relatively extreme measures, including various forms and degree of force, for the purpose of terminating or preventing the realization of such a threat to the peace and security of the western hemisphere. An obligation would exist to have recourse first, if time should permit, to the procedures of collective security organizations of which the United States is a member. The United States would be obliged to confine any use of force to the least necessary to the end proposed. 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/20791/download.

  8/30/1962

• 7/20/1962

  Applicability of the False Statements Act to Statements Made to Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

  This memo considered whether a person who writes a false statement, but not under oath, to an FBI agent may be prosecuted under the False Statements Act. After examining several prior cases, the memo concluded that the Act would apply to this form of a statement. However, it cautioned that in these cases the immediate benefits of prosecution should be weighed against the long-term disadvantage of discouraging cooperation.

  5/16/2022

• 5/16/1962

  Authority to print posters and fliers designed to encourage voting

  In this memo, the OLC explored the authority of several agencies to use agency funds to print posters and fliers designed to encourage voting rights. The Post Office was willing to cooperate by hanging the posters and fliers and paying for the transportation of the posters and flyers but did not have the statutory authority to use its funds to pay for the posters and fliers relating to voter registration and elections. The OLC pointed out that the federal statutes that govern printing do not support “the conduct of a publicity campaign” led by the executive branch without express statutory authority. Ultimately, the OLC concluded that it might be feasible to use funds from the National Conference on Citizenship, because promoting registration and voting fell within the object of the agency.

  5/16/2022

• 2/27/1962

  Liability of President or Mrs. Kennedy to Prosecution for Leaving the Scene of an Automobile Accident

  The Assistant Special Counsel to the President asked the OLC “whether [the] President or Mrs. Kennedy could be prosecuted for leaving the scene of an accident, in the event of a mishap while either of them was driving.” The OLC concluded that precedent suggested that President Kennedy could not be required to appear to answer to charges for leaving the scene due to the lack of judicial authority to direct presidential action. However, Mrs. Kennedy could theoretically be prosecuted in Florida or Virginia, but not in Massachusetts. The OLC recommended that irrespective of liability, both the President and Mrs. Kennedy should not leave the scene until local police arrive unless there was an advance agreement with the local police that they could leave the scene.

  5/16/2022

• 2/26/1962

  Authority of Congress to Regulate Wiretapping by the States

  Congress has authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate state wiretapping practices by prescribing a rule of evidence in state courts, limiting the authority of state officials to tap wires and to disclose and use information thereby obtained, prescribing the grounds and findings on which a state court may issue wiretap orders, and directing state courts to file reports with 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/20786/download.

  2/26/1962

• 2/19/1962

  Authority of United States Marshals to Protect Witnesses Appearing Before the Civil Rights Commission and its State Advisory Committees

  This opinion advised J. Edgar Hoover, then the director of the FBI, that United States marshals could protect witnesses from actual or threatened force when they appear before civil rights commissions, because those witnesses enjoy constitutional rights to testify before state committees. The memo suggested, however, that the federal government should avoid involvement if the FBI believes that state and local law enforcement would provide adequate protection.

  5/16/2022

• 10/10/1961

  Lobbying by Executive Branch Personnel

  Title 18, section 1913 of the U.S. Code does not bar conversations which a Peace Corps employee had with certain members of Congress at the direction of the Director of the Peace Corps in an attempt to enlist their support for a bill to establish the Peace Corps on a statutory basis. A literal interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 1913, which would prevent the President or his subordinates from formally or informally presenting his or his administration's views to the Congress, its members, or its committees regarding the need for new legislation or the wisdom of existing legislation, or which would prevent the administration from assisting in the drafting of legislation, would raise serious doubts as to the constitutionality of that statute. As so interpreted, it would seriously inhibit the exercise of what is now regarded as a basic constitutional function of the President concerning the legislative 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/20781/download.

  10/10/1961

• 8/30/1961

  Use of Executive Authority to Deny Federal Funds to Institutions of Higher Learning Which Discriminate Among Applicants for Admission

  This opinion concluded that the executive branch could withhold funding from segregated colleges and universities, and suggested that in some cases the Fourteenth Amendment might require the withholding of funds.

  5/16/2022

• 7/18/1961

  Executive Powers Available By Virtue Of The National Emergency Proclaimed on December 16, 1950

  In this memorandum, the OLC enumerated the then-existing executive powers that were dependent on the national emergency declared on December 16, 1950, including greater control over immigration, trade, and labor rules.

  5/16/2022

• 6/7/1961

  Press Access to Federal Prisoners

  In this memo the OLC provided feedback on a memo from the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, outlining the Bureau's legal justifications for limiting contact between the press and people in federal custody. The OLC explained that the Bureau's position was legally justified, but proposed granting the press greater access to federal prisoners.

  5/16/2022