Update: On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision to dismiss CREW’s complaint. Circuit Judge Pillard, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, filed a dissenting opinion. CREW then filed a petition to rehear the case en banc. On August 14, 2019, that petition was denied.  

CREW first sued DOJ for not releasing OLC opinions in 2013. In January 2017, an appeals court ruled on the proper way to request the memoranda, which CREW followed, but OLC still has not responded to CREW’s request. Therefore, CREW sued OLC on March 10, 2017 over failure to produce the records.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) must release opinions containing secret law on key issues produced by the Office of Legal Council (OLC), memoranda which DOJ has withheld in violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

OLC issues opinions establishing the executive branch’s authoritative position on what is and is not legal on subjects ranging from immigration to warfare to spying on civilians. One well-known memo justified the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques like waterboarding, and OLC may have weighed in recently on the president’s immigration executive orders and other key issues. These decisions are secret law, as they govern the operations of the government without the American people knowing of their existence or what is in them.

CREW’s lawsuit seeks to force OLC’s secret law into view. The FOIA requires that DOJ must release all final opinions and adopted statements of policy to the public, but despite years of requests from CREW, they have not.

 

Lawsuit Documents


  • March 10, 2017
  • May 3, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss - June 19, 2017
  • June 19, 2017
  • Reply Memorandum in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss - Jul. 26, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to a Sur-reply and Supporting Memorandum - Aug. 7, 2017
  • August 7, 2017
  • Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Leave - August 17, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Reply in Support of Its Motion for Leave - August 17, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Sur-reply in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss - Aug. 28, 2017
  • October 12, 2017
  • October 12, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Notice of Supplemental Authority - October 13, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Supplemental Response to Defendant's Notice of Supplemental Authority - Oct. 31, 2017
  • Plaintiff's Statement as to Whether this case is Related to Campaign for Accountability v. US DOJ - Feb. 9, 2018
  • February 16, 2018
  • February 18, 2018
  • February 18, 2018
  • Plaintiff's Motion for a Final Appealable Order of Dismissal - March 26, 2018
  • March 27, 2018
  • April 19, 2018
  • August 8, 2018
  • August 8, 2018
  • August 14, 2018
  • Campaign for Accountability & The Knight First Amendment Institute Amicus Brief in Support of Appellant - Aug. 15, 2018
  • September 28, 2018
  • October 11, 2018
  • April 30, 2019
  • June 10, 2019
  • July 15, 2019
  • August 14, 2019

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