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).
Some opinion descriptions were drafted by the OLC, some were prepared by Knight First Amendment Institute staff, and some were generated using AI tools.
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 101–110 of 2214
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Sex Segregation in Youth Rodeo Events Under Title IX Regulations
The maintenance of separate boys and girls divisions in rodeo competitions offered by the South Dakota 4-H Youth Development Program is authorized by the competitive-skill exception contained in the Title IX implementing regulation at 7 C.F.R. § 15a.450(b), but not by the contact-sport exception contained in that regulation. 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/1355836/download.
1/13/2021
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Congressional Oversight of the White House
Congressional oversight of the White House is subject to greater constitutional limitations than oversight of the departments and agencies of the Executive Branch, in light of the White House staff's important role in advising and assisting the President in the discharge of his constitutional responsibilities, the need to ensure the independence of the Presidency, and the heightened confidentiality interests in White House communications. 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/1355831/download.
1/8/2021
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OLC FOIA Interim Response Letter
The document is a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for formal written opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) created on or before February 15, 1994. The OLC has partially responded by processing 150 identified records from the years 1965, 1969, and 1981, some of which are protected by attorney-client and/or presidential communications privileges. The response also includes information about excluded law enforcement and national security records, as well as the right to file an administrative appeal. The questions presented for review include the status of the ongoing litigation, the availability of FOIA mediation services, and the process for filing an administrative appeal.
10/27/2020
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Executive Branch Participation in the Cyberspace Solarium Commission
In our tripartite constitutional structure, any commission performing federal functions must reside within a single one of the three branches of government. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission is properly viewed as a Legislative Branch entity, because congressional appointees compose the majority of the Commission's membership, the Commission exercises the investigative authorities of a congressional committee, and the Commission's ultimate mission is to advise Congress. The Executive Branch officials serving on the Commission should act with one unified voice, subject to executive supervision, in advising the Commission and should maintain the confidentiality of Executive Branch information when sharing their information and expertise with the Commission. 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/1355826/download.
10/9/2020
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Reimbursing the Attorney's Fees of Current and Former Federal Employees Interviewed as Witnesses in the Mueller Investigation
The Department of Justice Representation Guidelines authorize, on a case-by-case basis, the reimbursement of attorney's fees incurred by a current or former federal government employee interviewed as a witness in the Mueller Investigation under threat of subpoena about information the person acquired in the course of his government duties. 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/1347786/download.
10/7/2020
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Congressionally Mandated Notice Period for Withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty
In establishing a mandatory waiting period for withdrawing from a treaty, section 1234(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 unconstitutionally interferes with the President's exclusive authority to execute treaties and to conduct diplomacy. 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/1348136/download.
9/22/2020
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Annotated Index of 1974 unclassified OLC legal opinions
The OLC disclosed a preliminary index of all unclassified OLC legal opinions issued in 1974 to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. This version of the index (annotated by Institute staff) shows which opinions were released in response to the Knight Institute's FOIA request (green), which opinions are currently being processed (yellow), which opinions were already publicly available (blue), and which opinions were not selected by the Knight Institute for processing (white).
8/7/2020
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Annotated index of 1974 unclassified OLC legal opinions
The OLC disclosed a preliminary index of all unclassified OLC legal opinions issued in 1974 to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. This version of the index (annotated by Institute staff) shows which opinions were released in response to the Knight Institute's FOIA request (green), which opinions are currently being processed (yellow), which opinions were already publicly available (blue), and which opinions were not selected by the Knight Institute for processing (white).
8/7/2020
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Index of 1945 unclassified OLC legal opinions
The OLC disclosed this index—of unclassifed OLC legal opinions from 1945—to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University during the litigation in Francis v. DOJ. The OLC labeled the index "preliminary."
8/4/2020
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OLC FOIA Interim Response Letter
7/27/2020