{"id":218654,"date":"2025-12-09T11:14:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=case&#038;p=218654"},"modified":"2025-12-09T11:15:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:15:41","slug":"foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes","title":{"rendered":"FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration\u2019s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","supreme_court_term":[],"court":[],"class_list":["post-218654","case","type-case","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"case_number":"","featured_image":"","issues":[46591,46507],"court_type":"other","case_type":false,"supreme_court_term":null,"state_territory_affiliate":"","status":"ongoing","date_updated":"20251209","whats_at_stake":"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.","call_to_action":null,"summary":"On September 2, 2025, the Trump administration conducted its first of numerous lethal military strikes on civilians in boats suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing dozens of people.\r\n\r\nThese strikes are illegal. The U.S. military may not, under any circumstances, execute civilians who are merely suspected of smuggling drugs. Rather, the U.S. government must first pursue non-lethal measures like arrest and demonstrate that lethal force is an absolute last resort to protect against a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury. Despite bipartisan outrage over these plainly unlawful attacks, the Trump administration has said they will continue.\r\n\r\nOn October 15, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking immediate disclosure of a legal opinion authored by OLC \u2014 a part of the Justice Department whose opinions are generally treated as binding within the executive branch \u2014 that apparently blesses the ongoing strikes as lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified \u201cdrug cartels.\u201d The memo also reportedly purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in these unlawful strikes from future criminal prosecution.\r\n\r\nThe Trump administration has repeatedly acknowledged the existence of the memo and continues to assert that their strikes are on \u201cfirm legal ground,\u201d yet they are still refusing to publicly release the OLC opinion that details their reasoning. In mid-November, the Trump administration allowed members of Congress and their staffs to read the opinion. Many found its analysis deeply troubling. Indeed, one senator remarked that the opinion \u201cwould not constrain any use of force anywhere in the world. I mean, it is broad enough to authorize just about anything.\u201d\r\n\r\nDespite urgent public interest in the OLC opinion, the government has not released any records in response to the ACLU\u2019s request, necessitating this lawsuit.","case_decision":"","featured_case":true,"legal_project":"","date_filed":null,"administration_challenged":"","constitutional_principle":[],"drupal_node_id":"","legal_documents":[{"court":1858,"documents":[{"document_options":"document","document":218671,"title":"Complaint","subtitle":"","date_filed":"20251209","drupal_node_id":"","slug":"","child_documents":[{"child_document":218668,"title":"Exhibit A: FOIA Request","subtitle":"","date_filed":"20251209","drupal_node_id":"","slug":""}]}]}],"plaintiffs":"","co-counsel":"","press_releases_related_to_cases":[218652,219446],"related_content_cases":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>American Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration\u2019s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T16:15:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes\",\"name\":\"FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration\u2019s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T16:14:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-09T16:15:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American Civil Liberties Union","description":"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration\u2019s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union","og_description":"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes","og_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","article_modified_time":"2025-12-09T16:15:41+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aclu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes","name":"FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration\u2019s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes | American Civil Liberties Union","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-09T16:14:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-09T16:15:41+00:00","description":"The Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (\u201cOLC\u201d) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration\u2019s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged \u201carmed conflict\u201d with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/foia-case-seeking-legality-of-trump-admins-boat-strikes"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/","name":"American Civil Liberties Union","description":"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.","inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/218654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/218654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218675,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/218654\/revisions\/218675"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/219446"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/218652"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46507"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"supreme_court_term","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supreme_court_term?post=218654"},{"taxonomy":"court","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/court?post=218654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}