Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel Belatedly Releasing Some Opinions

A friend of The Memory Hole sends along the following, pasted in below. Not only is the Justice Dept’s Office of Legal Counsel – which gives legal advice to the President (and the rest of the Exec branch) – surprisingly releasing some of its zealously guarded opinions, some of these opinions have to do with the conduct of the Bush administration regarding Iraq and the “war on terrorism.” (For background on the reluctance of the Office of Legal Counsel to even acknowledge its opinions – never mind actually release them – see “Current, Future Justice Officials Clash Over OLC Proposal” at Secrecy News.)

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It is fairly surprising how the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is suddenly plopping out a series of its legal opinions at the eleventh hour after claiming for months and years that these opinions — and even the titles of these opinions — were inexorably and entirely classified and restricted.  Some opinions outlined matters of presidential authority and jurisdiction.  In the past eight years, the OLC has released almost none of its opinions until fairly recently when it became a matter of Congressional concern.  This is in extraordinarily stark contrast to prior administrations that published a substantial fraction of its formal legal opinions.

The opinions below were just added to the DOJ OLC website. [All links are to PDF files.]

* LEGALITY OF THE USE OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS TO TRY TERRORISTS (November 6, 2001) (added 1/08/09)

* WHETHER FALSE STATEMENTS OR OMISSIONS IN IRAQ’S WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION DECLARATION WOULD CONSTITUTE A “FURTHER MATERIAL BREACH” UNDER U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1441 (December 7, 2002) (added 1/08/09)

* EFFECT OF A RECENT UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ (November 8, 2002) (added 1/08/09)

* AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT UNDER DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ (October 23, 2002) (added 1/08/09)

* STATUS OF TALIBAN FORCES UNDER ARTICLE 4 OF THE THIRD GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1949 (February 7, 2002)  (added 1/08/09)

* “PROTECTED PERSON” STATUS IN OCCUPIED IRAQ UNDER THE FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION (March 18, 2004) (added 1/08/09)

* ASSERTION OF EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE OVER COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING EPA’S OZONE AIR QUALITY STANDARDS AND CALIFORNIA’S GREENHOUSE GAS WAIVER REQUEST (June 19, 2008) (added 1/08/09)

And this one added a week earlier:

* ASSERTION OF EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE CONCERNING THE SPECIAL COUNSEL’S INTERVIEWS OF THE VICE PRESIDENT AND SENIOR WHITE HOUSE STAFF (July 15, 2008)  (added December 29, 2008)

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