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 211–220 of 2202
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Best Practices for OLC Legal Advice and Written Opinions
This internal memo explains basic principles OLC attorneys should follow when drafting opinions. The memo also provides general guidance on how OLC attorneys should approach researching, outlining, drafting, and reviewing opinions. The release date listed is the date on which the memo was authored. The original memo is available at https://justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2014/07/11/olc-best-practices-2010.pdf.
7/16/2010
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Entitlement to Reservist Differential Pay Under Pre-Amendment Version of 5 U.S.C. § 5538
Under the pre-amendment version of 5 U.S.C. § 5538, covered employees may receive reservist differential pay not only for pay periods that occur when they are serving on active duty, but also for those pay periods that fall within the additional period in which they have re-employment rights following the completion of that duty. 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/2010-06-28-reservist-diff-pay/download.
6/28/2010
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Applicability of the Emoluments Clause to Non-Government Members of ACUS (II)
A nongovernmental member of the Administrative Conference of the United States does not occupy an office of profit or trust within the meaning of the Emoluments Clause. 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/2010-06-03-emols-acus-02/download.
6/3/2010
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Administration of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission
The Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission should create an executive committee, composed of its five presidentially appointed members, to discharge the purely executive functions of the Commission. The six congressional members, in turn, could participate in nearly all of the Commission's activities, including in ceremonial functions, and could advise the executive committee on the formulation of programs that would be technically approved and executed by non-congressional 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/olc/file/2010-05-07-admin-reagan-commn/download.
5/7/2010
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Applicability of Tax Levies to Thrift Savings Plan Accounts
Thrift Savings Plan accounts are subject to federal tax levies under sections 6331 and 6334 of the Internal Revenue Code, notwithstanding a statute that, standing alone, would protect such accounts from "levy" except as expressly provided in that statute. 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/2010-05-03-tax-levies-tsp/download.
5/3/2010
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Application of the Violence Against Women Act When the Offender and Victim Are the Same Sex
The criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act apply to otherwise-covered conduct when the offender and victim are the same sex. 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/2010-04-27-vawa-same-sex/download.
4/27/2010
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Constitutional Concerns Presented by Proposed Orderly Liquidation Authority Panel
The Orderly Liquidation Authority Panel that would be authorized by section 202 of the Committee Print of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 would have independent jurisdiction to determine the statutory permissibility of petitions issued by the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver for certain systemically important financial companies that are in default or in danger of default. If this Panel—a bankruptcy court tribunal composed of three judges from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware who are appointed by the Chief Judge of that court—were deemed to be a part of the Executive Branch, its exercise of this jurisdiction would raise both Appointments Clause and separation of powers concerns. If the Panel instead were deemed to be a part of the Judicial Branch, the Appointments Clause concerns would be mitigated, if not resolved, but the separation of powers concerns would be heightened. The Panel could be located within the Judicial Branch while addressing both the Appointments Clause and separation of powers concerns if Congress were to vest jurisdiction to review receivership petitions in an Article III court, with that court authorized to refer such petitions to the Panel and to withdraw referrals under appropriate circumstances, or if the Panel were to consist of Article III judges rather than bankruptcy judges. This structure, however, would likely prevent the Panel from adjudicating petitions where the financial company consents to the appointment of the FDIC as receiver and thus does not present a justiciable case or controversy. 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/2010-04-19-orderly-liquidation/download.
4/19/2010
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Department of Defense Response to Interlocutory Decision of Court of Appeals Regarding Statute Requiring Separation of Homosexual Service Members from Military
Following the interlocutory decision of a court of appeals regarding the statute requiring the separation of certain gay and lesbian service members from the military, the Department of Defense is not legally required to revise its administrative procedures and policies in a manner that might preclude separations within the circuit that would otherwise be mandated by the statute. The Department of Defense is also not legally prohibited from acquiescing in the decision, although such a policy would appear to lack direct Executive Branch precedent and arguably would be in some tension with the Executive Branch's usual practice of implementing and defending statutes that are subject to constitutional challenge. 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/2010-03-25-dod-acquiesce/download.
3/25/2010
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Department of Justice Views on the Proposed Constitution Drafted by the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands
The following memorandum opinion was initially drafted in the Office of Legal Counsel at the request of the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs. It analyzes several features of the proposed constitution of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The President attached a copy of this memorandum to his letter transmitting the proposed constitution to Congress, along with his comments, under Public Law 94-584. Because it was difficult to discern a legitimate governmental purpose that would be rationally advanced by provisions conferring legal advantages on certain groups defined by place and timing of birth, timing of residency, or ancestry, the memorandum opinion recommended that those provisions be removed from the proposed constitution. The memorandum opinion concluded that the ten- and fifteen-year residence requirements for governors, lieutenant governors, and judges of the U.S. Virgin Islands raise constitutional concerns and recommended that consideration be given to shortening the duration of these requirements. The memorandum opinion further concluded that the provision concerning territorial waters and marine resources appeared to be inconsistent with governing federal law and recommended that it be revised to remove any inconsistency and to make clear its recognition of Congress's plenary control over these matters. 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/2010-02-23-usvi-const-5th/download.
2/23/2010
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Lethal Operation Against Shaykh Anwar Aulaqi
This redacted opinion concludes that the proposed use of lethal force against Shaykh Anwar Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who the CIA believed was a senior leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, does not violate the assassination ban in Executive Order 12333 or any applicable constitutional limitation due to Aulaqi’s U.S. citizenship. 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/sites/default/files/olc/pages/attachments/2015/04/02/2010-02-19_-_olc_aaga_barron_-_al-aulaqi.pdf.
2/19/2010