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 781–790 of 2202
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Authority of Education Department Administrative Law Judges in Conducting Hearings
Administrative law judges within the Department of Education, being employees of the Department, do not have authority to conduct administrative hearings in a manner contrary to the Department's rules, to invalidate such rules, or to interpret such rules in a manner contrary to the Secretary's interpretation. 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/20131/download.
1/12/1990
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Congressional Access to Presidential Communications
This opinion concludes that the president has the constitutional authority to assert an absolute executive privilege to protect information on sensitive national security matters. The opinion further concludes that even if the president determined that disclosure of his communications would not adversely affect the national security, these communications would nonetheless be protected by a qualified privilege, and hence could be withheld from Congress unless there were an essential legislative need for them. 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/sites/default/files/olc/pages/attachments/2014/12/30/1989-12-21_-_pdaag_luttig_-_cong_access_to_pres_communications_ocr.pdf.
12/21/1989
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Congressional Authority to Require State Courts to Use Certain Procedures in Products Liability Cases
Congress may enact legislation that requires state courts to submit the determination of the amount of punitive damage awards in products liability cases to judges rather than juries if it also enacts federal law supplying the substantive law to be applied in such cases. Legislation that does not enact a substantive law of products liability, but simply attempts to prescribe directly the state court procedures to be followed in products liability cases arising under state law raises significant Tenth Amendment questions. Given the current state of Tenth Amendment junsprudence, however, it is unlikely that a court would invalidate such a statute. In deciding whether to propose legislation that would impose procedural requirements on state court proceedings, the Department should give due consideration to the federalism concerns that would be raised, as required by section 5(a) of Executive Order No. 12612. 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/24381/download.
12/19/1989
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Garnishment Under the Child Support Enforcement Act of Compensation Payable by the Department of Veterans Affairs
Disability or other compensation paid to a veteran by the Department of Veterans Affairs is subject to garnishment under the Child Support Enforcement Act when, in order to receive such compensation, the veteran has waived receipt of all of the military retired pay to which he or she would otherwise be entitled. 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/24391/download.
12/19/1989
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Investigative Authority Vested in the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation
The Inspector General of the Department of Transportation has the same broad authority to investigate fraud against Department programs and operations that the investigative units transferred into the Office of Inspector General possessed when the Inspector General Act of 1978 became law. 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/24386/download.
12/19/1989
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Availability of the Judgment Fund for the Payment of Judgments or Settlements in Suits Brought Against the Commodity Credit Corporation Under the Federal Tort Claims Act
The Judgment Fund, the permanent appropriation established pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 1304, is not available for the payment of judgments or settlements in suits brought against the Commodity Credit Corporation under the Federal Tort Claims 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/24371/download.
12/5/1989
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Review of Final Order in Alien Employer Sanctions Cases
The Immigration and Naturalization Service cannot appeal to the Attorney General or seek judicial review of a final order in an alien employer sanctions case under 8 U.S.C. § 1324a. 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/24376/download.
12/5/1989
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Preparation of Slip Laws From Hand-Enrolled Legislation
The National Archives and Records Administration may not make any editorial changes in the content of a statute, no matter how minor, including spelling or punctuation changes. The National Archives and Records Administration may make changes in typeface and type style, and other such changes that do not alter the content of a statute. 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/24366/download.
11/29/1989
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Ethical Considerations Regarding Charitable or Political Activities of Department Spouses
Statutes and regulations impose no restrictions on the charitable or political activities of the spouses of Department of Justice officials, but officials must ensure that knowledge about their spouses' fundraising activities will not affect their impartial judgment with respect to Department business. 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/24361/download.
11/17/1989
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Scope of Procurement Priority Accorded to the Federal Prison Industries Under 18 U.S.C. § 4124
The procurement priority accorded to "products" of the Federal Prison Industries under 18 U.S.C § 4124 does not include services. 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/24356/download.
11/8/1989