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 281–290 of 2202
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Application of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to Certain Techniques That May Be Used by the CIA in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees
This opinion concludes that the six "enhanced interrogation techniques" (dietary manipulation, extended sleep deprivation, "facial hold," "attention grasp," "abdominal slap," and "insult (or facial) slap") proposed by the CIA are consistent with the War Crimes Act, as amended by the Military Commission Act of 2006, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. 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/olc/file/886296/download.
7/20/2007
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Applicability of the Presidential Records Act to the White House Usher's Office
Because the White House Usher's Office is part of the President's "immediate staff" or, alternatively, would be "a unit . . . of the Executive Office of the President whose function is to advise and assist the President," any documentary materials "created or received [by the Office] in the course of conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President" constitute "Presidential records" under the Presidential Records Act, 44 U.S.C. § 2201(2). 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/opinion/file/832861/download.
7/13/2007
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Immunity of the Former Counsel to the President From Compelled Congressional Testimony
The former Counsel to the President is immune from compelled congressional testimony about matters that arose during her tenure as Counsel to the President and that relate to her official duties in that capacity and is not required to appear in response to a subpoena to testify about such 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/file/451566/download.
7/10/2007
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Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the Award of a Grant Pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act is reasonably construed to require the Office of Justice Programs to exempt World Vision—a religious organization that has been awarded a grant under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act—from the religious nondiscrimination provision in 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)(1). 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/451561/download.
6/29/2007
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Assertion of Executive Privilege Concerning the Dismissal and Replacement of U.S. Attorneys
Executive privilege may properly be asserted over the documents and testimony concerning the dismissal and replacement of U.S. Attorneys that have been subpoenaed by congressional committees. 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/451161/download.
6/27/2007
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Application of the Emoluments Clause to a Member of the FBI Director's Advisory Board
A member of the FBI Director's Advisory Board does not hold an "Office of Profit or Trust" under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. 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/451556/download.
6/15/2007
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Constitutionality of the D.C. Voting Rights Act of 2007
S. 1257, a bill to grant the District of Columbia representation in the House of Representatives as well as to provide an additional House seat for Utah, violates the Constitution's provisions governing the composition and election of the United States Congress. 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/451551/download.
5/23/2007
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Eligibility of a Retired Army Officer to Be Appointed Inspector General of the Department of Defense
A retired officer of the Regular Army, not on active duty, is not a "member of the Armed Forces, active or reserve," under section 8 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 and therefore is not disqualified from being appointed as Inspector General of the Department of Defense. 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/opinion/file/832856/download.
5/18/2007
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When a Prior Conviction Qualifies as a "Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence"
A "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) is limited to those offenses of which the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon is an element—that is, a factual predicate specified by law and required to support a conviction. Where the legal definition of the crime at issue contains a disjunctive element (which requires proof of only one of multiple specified factual predicates), only one subpart of which requires the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, application of the prohibition in section 922(g)(9) will turn on whether the factfinder found that the subpart meeting the "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" definition had been proved (or whether the defendant pleaded guilty to that subpart). The answer to that question may be gleaned from the record of conviction or the supporting record of proceedings in the court of conviction. Police reports cannot answer that question. The above interpretations also govern background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for firearms transfers under the National Instant Background Check System, but additional materials, including police reports, may be relied upon by the NICS for certain limited purposes. 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/451196/download.
5/17/2007
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Officers of the United States Within the Meaning of the Appointments Clause
A position to which is delegated by legal authority a portion of the sovereign powers of the federal government and that is "continuing" is a federal office subject to the Constitution's Appointments Clause. A person who would hold such a position must be properly made an "Officer[] of the United States" by being appointed pursuant to the procedures specified in the Appointments 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/file/451191/download.
4/16/2007