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As the government continues to bomb civilians in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, this decision ordering in camera review of the memo is a crucial win for transparency and accountability
September 30, 2026, New York — Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected several of the Trump administration’s key rationales for withholding an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that it is using to justify its ongoing extrajudicial boat strike campaign, which has murdered 234 people. The court also ordered the government to provide additional details about who has seen the memo and how they have used it, and to turn the memo over to the court so the judge can determine whether it should be released publicly. The judge gave the government until October 14 to comply with his order.
The court found that the administration has adopted the memo as its “working law,” noting that “the assembled record compellingly supports the finding that DOD—the agency that asserts disclosure authority over the Memo—has treated the Memo as its effective law and policy governing the boat strikes.” However, the court also ordered the administration to provide it with further information so that it may rule on whether the memo is protected as a closely held presidential advice document.
This decision comes months after the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Center for Constitutional Rights sued to force disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
“The public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of civilians. Today’s order is a huge step in the right direction of ensuring that the government does not get to summarily execute people based on secret law,” said Jeffrey Stein, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project.
The still-secret memo reportedly blesses the ongoing strikes as lawful acts in an alleged “armed conflict” with unspecified “drug cartels,” and also purports to immunize personnel who authorize or take part in these unlawful strikes from future criminal prosecution for what would otherwise be considered homicide.
“No president can arbitrarily assassinate people from the sky based on their sole say-so,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Legal Director Baher Azmy. “If the OLC opinion seeks to dress up the obvious illegality of these serial murders in legalese to provide Trump cover, the public needs to see that analysis and ultimately hold accountable all those who facilitate murder in the United States’ name.”
The court held that the Department of Defense has expressly adopted the legal reasoning in the OLC memo as binding on the agency, which means that the memo cannot be maintained as “secret law.” Among other conclusions, the ruling rejected the government’s claim that it could withhold the OLC memo from the public as privileged under the deliberative process and attorney-client privileges.
In addition to this FOIA lawsuit, the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights have also filed a lawsuit on behalf of two families from Trinidad & Tobago who are seeking redress after a U.S. boat strike killed their loved ones.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.