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 1581–1590 of 2202
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Continuing Service of Deputy Director of OMB as Acting Director During Vacancy
Status of the Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget 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/21286/download.
12/22/1977
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Whether Former Assistant United States Attorney May Represent Potential Criminal Defendant
Conflict of Interest—Former United States Attorney 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/21281/download.
12/21/1977
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Termination of Federal Financial Assistance Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Termination of Federal Financial Assistance Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 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/21276/download.
12/16/1977
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FBI Investigative Jurisdiction Over Threats or Acts Against Federal Officers Not Covered by 18 U.S.C. §§ 111 and 114
Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer of the United States, 18 U.S.C. § 372 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/21261/download.
12/14/1977
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Presidential Approval of Naval Petroleum Reserve Contract
Presidential Approval of Naval Petroleum Reserve Contract NOd 4219-2664 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/21266/download.
12/14/1977
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Whether Official Opinions of the General Counsel for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Construing HEW Regulations Have Binding Effect in a Prosecution for Violation of Those Regulations
Effect of Agency Interpretation of Regulations—Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records 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/21271/download.
12/14/1977
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Authority of General Services Administration to Restore Sanctioned Employees to Prior Grades
General Services Administration—Disciplinary Matter—Authority of the General Services Administration (5 U.S.C. § 5596) 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/21381/download.
12/7/1977
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Legal Basis to Withhold Documents Relating to the Export Administration Act From the House Committee on Government Operations
The Disclosure of Documents to the House Committee on Government Operations—Boycotts—Export Administration 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/21256/download.
12/7/1977
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Reorganization of Equal Employment Enforcement Authority
Reorganization of Equal Employment Enforcement Authority—Concurrent Authority 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/21251/download.
12/2/1977
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NSA Criminal Referrals Under E.O. 11905
In this memo, the OLC clarified the oral guidance Bill Funk gave to the NSA regarding the NSA’s reporting requirements under § 4(a)(4) of E.O. 119905. The OLC concluded that even though Mr. Frunk did not define the meaning of “routine” offenses, such offenses included the admissions of limited personal use of marijuana or other controlled substances by NSA employment applicants or personas who were undergoing pre-clearance investigations.
9/2/2022