Jim Lesar
 Jim Lesar  (lawyer) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | US |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin School of Law |
| Founder of | The Coalition on Political Assassinations |
| Interests | JFK/Assassination |
American Freedom of Information Act attorney who is president of the Assassination Archives and Research Center, a nonprofit organization that obtains, preserves, and disseminates information on political assassinations. | |
James H. Lesaris an American Freedom of Information Act attorney who is president of the Assassination Archives and Research Center, a nonprofit organization that obtains, preserves, and disseminates information on political assassinations.[1]
Contents
Education
Lesar is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin School of Law.[2]
Career
For five years Lesar represented James Earl Ray, the alleged assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his attempts to get a trial. He was the attorney principally responsible for presenting the evidence at the two-week long evidentiary hearing on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus that was held in 1974.[3]
Lesar has worked to increase individual access to government information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Lesar has filed nearly 1,000 FOIA requests himself and has obtained the release of approximately 1 million pages of documents, primarily from the FBI and the CIA.
He is president of the Assassination Archives and Research Center, a public service organization which he co-founded with the late Bernard Fensterwald Jr. The group is dedicated to "collecting, preserving and disseminating information concerning political assassinations" and has focused primarily on the killings of John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[2]
Lesar believes that one of his greatest achievements was the release of a January 1964 Warren Commission executive session transcript that showed the commission suspected the FBI was not conducting a proper investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[2]
He received the Human Rights Leadership Award by Freedom Magazine, run by the Church of Scientology.[2]
Event Witnessed
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Truth And Reconciliation Committee on the Assassinations Of The 1960s | A call for a Truth And Reconciliation Committee |
