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.

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  • Issuance of Passports to Aliens to Facilitate "Sting" Operation by State Department Inspector General

    The Department of State has authority to issue passports to aliens for the purpose of facilitating a "sting" operation conducted by the Department of State Inspector General. 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/24171/download.

    3/13/1989

  • Inspector General Authority to Conduct Regulatory Investigations

    The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, does not generally vest in the Inspector General of the Department of Labor the authority to conduct investigations pursuant to regulatory statutes administered by the Department of Labor. The Inspector General has an oversight rather than a direct role in investigations conducted pursuant to regulatory statutes: he may investigate the Department's conduct of regulatory investigations, but may not conduct such investigations himself. The responsibility to conduct regulatory investigations cannot be delegated by the Secretary to the Inspector General pursuant to section 9(a)(2) of the Inspector General Act. The significant investigative authority granted to Inspectors General under the Inspector General Act includes the authority to investigate recipients of federal funds, such as contractors and grantees, to determine if they are complying with federal laws and regulations and the authority to investigate the policies and actions of the Departments and their employees. This latter authority includes the authority to exercise "oversight" over the investigations that are integral to the programs of the Department. 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/24166/download.

    3/9/1989

  • Justice Department Study Concerning AIDS

    The OLC advised the attorney general's assistant that the OLC had convened a meeting with other Justice Department components and concluded that the Office of Justice Programs should maintain responsibility for a study of the appropriateness of mandated prison sentences for those previously convicted of intravenous drug use or sex offences who subsequently knowingly placed others at risk of contracting HIV. The OLC also informed the attorney general's assistant that the Office of Legislative Affairs prepared a memorandum advising the attorney general of the statutory directives contained in the Health Omibus Programs Extension Act of 1988.

    9/2/2022

  • Presidential Action on Joint Resolution Disapproving Pay Raise

    Under the Federal Salary Act of 1987, a pay raise recommended by the President becomes effective as law unless it is disapproved by a joint resolution "agreed to by the Congress" prior to the end of the 30-day period beginning when the President submits his recommendation. The Act thus requires passage of the joint resolution by both Houses of Congress, but not signature by the President, prior to the end of the period. The Constitution requires that the joint resolution disapproving the pay raise be presented to the President, and he is entitled to the constitutionally prescribed 10-day period to consider it. If the President signs the joint resolution dunng this period, the pay raise is disapproved. If the President vetoes the joint resolution (and the veto is not overridden), the pay raise is effective. With respect to Article III judges, the President's approval of the joint resolution after the 30-day period does not offend the Compensation Clause or section 2 of the joint resolution, since as a practical matter no increase in pay would vest m the judges prior to the expiration of the 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/24161/download.

    2/7/1989

  • Authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to Indemnify Its Employees

    The Environmental Protection Agency may use funds appropriated to the agency for "Salaries and Expenses" to indemnify its employees for personal liability arising from actions taken within the scope of their official duties. 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/24156/download.

    2/1/1989

  • Constitutionality of Section 7(b)(3) of the Emergency Veterans' Job Training Act of 1983

    The statute's exclusion of religious activities from the ambit of activities for which the Veterans' Administration may fund training does not violate the Free Exercise Clause. The statute's inclusion in the program of institutions that are religiously-affiliated but not pervasively sectarian does not violate the Establishment Clause. The inclusion of pervasively sectarian institutions is also constitutional, so long as the selection of the institution is the result of the genuinely independent and private choice of the veteran. The Veterans' Administration may constitutionally prescribe by regulation criteria to distinguish between religious and nonreligious activities. General considerations that may aid in promulgating regulations to distinguish between religious and nonreligious activities include, at a minimum, (1) whether the activity is also traditionally performed in nonreligious organizations and (2) the degree to which the activity is informed and affected by the religious tenets of the organization. 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/24151/download.

    1/23/1989

  • Maintaining Essential Services in the District of Columbia in the Event Appropriations Cease

    When the District of Columbia is otherwise prohibited by law from spending its appropriation, the District's Mayor is authorized under the Antideficiency Act to expend moneys necessary to maintain government services bearing a reasonable relationship to the safety of human life or the protection of property. Under provisions of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the President has authonty to employ the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Force for purposes he deems necessary and appropriate where he has declared the existence of emergency conditions. The President has inherent constitutional authority to use troops or police to preserve such order in the District of Columbia as may be necessary to protect federal property and functions. 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/24006/download.

    12/15/1988

  • Applicability of Appointment Provisions of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to Incumbent Officeholders

    Provisions of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 requiring appointment by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for certain positions within the Department of Justice do not affect the tenure of incumbent officeholders who were appointed by the Attorney General. 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/24001/download.

    12/12/1988

  • Authority of the Customs Service to Seize or Forfeit Property Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881

    The Customs Service does not have independent authority to make seizures or forfeitures pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881. Accordingly, the Customs Service should seize or forfeit property pursuant to that section only under the supervision of the Drug Enforcement Administration and by direct or derivative designation of the Attorney General. The proceeds of property forfeited after a seizure by the Customs Service must be deposited in the Customs Forfeiture Fund, rather than in the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund, when the seizure was made under a law administered or enforced by Customs, or custody was maintained by Customs, regardless of whether the forfeiture was handled by 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/23996/download.

    11/23/1988

  • Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) to President-Elect's Transition Team

    The one-year bar in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c), which prohibits certain former government employees from contacting the agencies where they worked, applies to persons who serve on a presidential transition team while receiving a salary from a private employer. The bar in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) does not apply to members of a presidential transition team who support themselves from their own resources or are compensated solely from appropriated funds. 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/19541/download.

    11/18/1988

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