The OLC
Astrid Da Silva

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 331–340 of 2202

  • Terms of Members of the Civil Rights Commission

    The six-year term of a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights runs from the date on which his or her predecessor's term ends, not from the date of the member's appointment. 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/18801/download.

    11/30/2004

  • Applicability of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to Tribally Controlled Schools

    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act generally applies to tribally controlled schools that receive federal financial assistance from the Department of Justice. 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/18806/download.

    11/16/2004

  • Use of Appropriations to Pay Travel Expenses of International Trade Administration Fellows

    The payment of travel expenses for International Trade Administration fellows is barred by 31 U.S.C. § 1345 because the proposed ITA fellowship program that would bring representatives from various countries to the United States would constitute a "meeting" within the meaning of section 1345. 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/18811/download.

    10/7/2004

  • Legality of EEOC's Class Action Regulations

    The Office of Legal Counsel has the authority to resolve the legal questions the Postal Service raised with respect to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's class action regulations. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's class action regulations applicable to administrative complaints against federal government agencies are not contrary to Title VII in the manners suggested by the United States Postal Service: the regulations do not purport to prevent claimants from filing actions in federal court; they do not frustrate the statutory exhaustion requirement; and they do not forestall the running of the limitations period. 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/18816/download.

    9/20/2004

  • Authority of HUD's Chief Financial Officer to Submit Final Reports on Violations of Appropriations Laws

    The Consolidated Appropriations Resolution for Fiscal Year 2003 requires the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to report to the President and Congress on violations by the agency of the Anti-Deficiency Act and other appropriations laws concerning expenditures, but the CFO must first submit his reports to the Secretary of HUD for review and approval. 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/18821/download.

    8/31/2004

  • Ethical Issues Raised by Retention and Use of Flight Privileges by FAA Employees

    Although flight privileges generally do not require disqualification under 18 U.S.C. § 208 from all matters involving the relevant air carrier, a Federal Aviation Administration employee who holds such flight privileges must disqualify him or herself from particular matters where FAA action may have a direct and predictable effect on the relevant air carrier's ability to honor the employee's flight privileges. An employee with flight privileges and the airline that provided them have a "covered relationship" that must be analyzed under an Office of Government Ethics regulation (5 C.F.R. § 2635.502) to determine whether the employee's participating in a matter involving that airline would create an "appearance problem." The regulation entrusts the agency and the employee to make that determination based on the facts of a particular case. Although flight privileges could constitute a "payment" within the meaning of another OGE regulation (5 C.F.R. § 2635.503), and therefore must be analyzed under the regulation, they do not constitute an "extraordinary payment" under the described circumstances. Flight privileges are not a type of interest that would qualify as "stock" or "any other securities interest" under a Department of Transportation regulation (5 C.F.R. § 6001.104(b)) that supplements the OGE impartiality regulations. 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/18826/download.

    8/30/2004

  • Requirement That "Private Citizens" Be Appointed From "Private Life" to the National Council for the Humanities

    Because state and local public officials, including a county commissioner, are not "private citizens" who would be appointed "from private life" within the ordinary meaning of those terms in 20 U.S.C. § 957(b), such officials are disqualified from appointment to the National Council for the Humanities. 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/18836/download.

    8/27/2004

  • Whether the Second Amendment Secures an Individual Right

    The Second Amendment secures a right of individuals generally, not a right of states or a right restricted to persons serving in militias. 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/18831/download.

    8/24/2004

  • Expenditure of Appropriated Funds for Informational Video News Releases

    Informational video news releases produced by the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 do not constitute impermissible "covert propaganda" in violation of the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, which forbids the expenditure of appropriated funds for "publicity or propaganda 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/18841/download.

    7/30/2004

  • Authority to Prescribe Regulations Limiting the Partisan Political Activities of the Commissioned Officers Corps in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    The Department of Commerce may prescribe regulations limiting the partisan political activities of the Commissioned Officers Corps in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 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/18846/download.

    7/29/2004

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