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 1121–1130 of 2202
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Computation of 90-Day Period for Preliminary Investigation Under the Special Prosecutor Act
The 90-day period for the Attorney General's preliminary investigation under the Special Prosecutor provisions of the Ethics in Government Act should be computed from the day when the specific information is effectively received by the Department of Justice. In this case, the 90-day period began to run when the Attorney General himself was apprised of the allegations against the Secretary of Labor, and ordered the preliminary investigation commenced. 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/22841/download.
12/21/1981
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Antideficiency Act Matters
7/27/2020
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United States Participation in Interpol Computerized Search File Project
Neither state nor federal law would prohibit participation by the United States National Central Bureau of Interpol (USNCB) in a proposed computerized information exchange system, provided the USNCB complies with all disclosure, accounting, and publication requirements imposed by applicable federal statutes, such as 22 U.S.C. § 263a, the Privacy Act, and other federal restrictions on the exchange of criminal history information. As a matter of comity, the USNCB may comply with relevant state laws and regulations that restrict the disclosure and dissemination of personally identifiable information; however, under the Supremacy Clause, as a federal law enforcement agency it is not bound to do so. The requirements of the Privacy Act may affect the structure and functioning of any computerized information exchange system in which the USNCB participates, particularly insofar as it would require the USNCB to verify the accuracy of data in its records prior to disclosure. Applicable international guidelines and agreements relating to information exchange and privacy protection are broader in scope than the Privacy Act, and may restrict federal law enforcement agencies' ability to participate fully in the proposed system. Moreover, there are a number of possible international conflicts of law issues raised by the United States' participation in Interpol generally, and in any automated information exchange system it may implement. 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/22831/download.
12/9/1981
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The Legality of "Legislative Veto" Provisions
7/27/2020
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Official Claims by the Justice Department Against Iran
7/27/2020
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Illiterate Aliens Seeking Admission as Immigrants
Illiterate aliens who would otherwise be eligible for admission to this country on visas allocated under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1152 or 1153, may not avoid the literacy requirement of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(25) simply by virtue of their being accompanied by a child who is under the age of 16, if that child's own eligibility for admission depends upon that of his or her parents. The State Department's longstanding administrative practice in this regard finds no support in the legislative history of the literacy requirement, which establishes that Congress intended to exempt from its application only those illiterates whose close relatives were independently entitled to be admitted. 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/22826/download.
12/2/1981
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Assessment of Inspectional Overtime Charges at Other than Designated Ports of Entry
7/27/2020
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Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 281 to Selling Activities of Retired Military Officers
Section 281 of Title 18, United States Code, which prohibits certain representational activities by federal employees, is presently in force as applied to retired officers of the armed forces, and in appropriate cases a violation could warrant criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice. The prohibitions of the first paragraph of § 281 apply only to retired officers on active duty, but under its second paragraph inactive retired officers are also prohibited from engaging in certain selling activities. The prohibition in the second paragraph of § 281 was intended generally to prevent retired officers from being in a position to exert their influence in the procurement process of the military department in which they once served, and applies to representational activities in connection with the sale of services as well as the sale of goods. However, its prohibition does not extend to a situation in which the retired officer can fairly be said to be representing only himself and no one else as a seller. 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/22821/download.
11/30/1981
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Peace Corps Employment Policies for Pregnant Volunteers
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) would prohibit the Peace Corps from implementing an across-the-board policy of terminating or reassigning volunteers solely because they become pregnant while assigned overseas, or because they have an abortion. A decision to terminate a pregnant volunteer must be based on a case-by-case assessment of the volunteer's ability to function effectively in her assignment while pregnant or after delivery of the child. Under the PDA, the fact that a volunteer who has been terminated because of pregnancy chooses to have an abortion cannot be considered in a decision on her reapplication for service. Even though a specific restriction in the Peace Corps' appropriation prohibits the use of its funds to perform abortions, so that the Peace Corps may not pay for the cost of an abortion for one of its volunteers, the PDA would require the Peace Corps to continue to pay travel and per diem expenses to volunteers evacuated to have an abortion, as long as it provides such compensation to other volunteers evacuated for comparable medical conditions. The Peace Corps must also allow volunteers to draw upon their accumulated readjustment allowance to pay for an abortion, if similar access is allowed for other medical expenses. 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/22816/download.
11/20/1981
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Obligation of the Office of the Vice President to Pay State or City Accommodations Taxes
The Office of the Vice Presidency is immune from state taxation by virtue of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, and is thus not required to pay a state or city accommodations tax on hotel bills for which it is billed directly. 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/22811/download.
11/19/1981