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 1521–1530 of 2202
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Whether Department of Justice May Accept Uncompensated Services of Student Volunteers
Voluntary Services (31 U.S.C. § 665(b), 5 U.S.C. § 3111)—Use of Student Volunteers 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/21671/download.
8/18/1978
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Constitutionality of Bill Restricting President's Authority to Remove the Director of the Office of Personnel Management
Civil Service Reform Act (5 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq.)—Director of Office of Personnel Management 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/21666/download.
8/16/1978
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Authority of Civil Service Commission to Require Department of Justice to Hire Attorneys According to Numerical Rating System
Veterans Preference Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 2108, 3309—3320)—Application to Attorney Positions 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/21661/download.
8/14/1978
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Status of the Pacific Northwest River Basin Commission Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
Status of the Pacific Northwest River Basin Commission Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act 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/21656/download.
8/9/1978
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Emergency Authority to Electronic Surveillance
This memo examined the use of electronic surveillance in the then-recent hostage situations in Puerto Rico, concluding that, because the hostage situation did not pose a threat to national security, the Wiretap Act authorized emergency surveillance only if the situation involved “conspiratorial activities characteristic of organized crime.” The memo urged legislative action to clarify the FBI’s emergency authority to act in this area.
9/2/2022
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ERA: Power of the States to Rescind Prior Ratification
In this memo, the OLC confirmed its prior conclusion that states had no power to withdraw prior ratification to the ERA, but noted valid disagreement on the question, including on the part of the attorney general.
9/2/2022
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Restriction on Activities of Members of the Indian Claims Commission After It Goes Out of Existence
Act of August 13, 1946 (25 U.S.C. § 70b(c))—Restriction on Activities of Former Members of the Indian Claims 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/file/21651/download.
7/27/1978
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Effect of Tie Vote by Department Review Committee on Declassification of Document
Classification of Documents (28 CFR Part 17)—Effect of a Tie Vote by the Department Review Committee 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/21646/download.
7/21/1978
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Use of LSAT Scores in the Department's Honor and Summer Intern Programs
Employee Selection Procedures—Use of LSAT Scores in the Department's Honor and Summer Intern Programs 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/21641/download.
7/20/1978
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Revocation of White House Press Passes
In this memo, the OLC considered the proposed revocation of White House press passes for several reporters working for Soviet news organizations. The OLC based its reasoning on the standard set by Sherrill v. Knight, 659 F. 2d 124 (1977), where the court found that Washington-based correspondents had a First Amendment right to not be denied a press pass “arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons” if similarly situated member of the press were given regular access to the White House press facilities. Based on the Sherill decision, the OLC concluded that denying a White House press pass to the Soviet correspondents at issue could not be described as “arbitrary” because the revocation would substantially further U.S. foreign policy. Furthermore, the OLC noted that due to principles of separation of powers, a court would not examine the validity of this type of foreign policy decision. In terms of due process considerations, the OLC concluded that under notice requirement in Sherrill, the Soviet reporters were only entitled to a written statement explaining that the revocation of their passes was in retaliation for the actions their government-employer took against members of the American press in Moscow.
9/2/2022