During the week of March 13 – 17, the Law Library hosts its annual programming for Sunshine Week, the national celebration of freedom of information and transparency in government. This year, the Library will host several speakers, a Sunshine-themed Lexis training, and a party. For every event attended, each student will receive a raffle ticket (prizes sponsored by LexisNexis).
March 13 – Noon – 1pm Moot Court
The Truth Is Out There – Just Ask! with featured speaker John Greenewald
Wondering about those UFOs the US has been shooting down lately? You can find out! Explore the secrets the US government holds about UFOs, the JFK Assassination, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and top-secret aircraft with a researcher who has submitted over 10,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. For over 25 years, John Greenewald has used FOIA to target agencies such as the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, Air Force, Army, Navy, NSA, DIA, and countless others and to gain access to more than two million pages of government documents – all of which he provides for free online at The Black Vault archive. He is the author of Inside the Black Vault: The Government’s UFO Secrets Revealed and Secrets from the Black Vault: The Army’s Plan for a Military Base on the Moon and Other Declassified Documents that Rewrote History.
Join Mr. Greenewald for a fascinating presentation and Q&A session about uncovering the government’s most intriguing secrets using the power of FOIA. Watch Mr. Greenewald’s presentation from Sunshine Week 2022 here.
March 14 – Noon – 1pm Moot Court
Open Government at the Department of Justice with featured speaker Bobak Talebian, Director of the Office of Information Policy
Join the Director of the Department of Justice Office of Information Policy (OIP) for a fascinating look at how the federal government complies with and promotes the Freedom of Information Act. Mr. Talebian began serving as the Director of the OIP February 2020, and as such he is responsible for managing the DOJ’s responsibilities related to FOIA, including responding to initial requests made to the Department’s senior leadership offices, adjudicating all appeals from denials by any Department component under the FOIA, developing FOIA policy guidance for all Executive Branch agencies, providing legal counsel and training to agency personnel on the procedural and substantive aspects of the Act, and for overseeing agency compliance with the law.
Mr. Talebian graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law where he served on Law Review.
March 16 – Noon – 1pm Room 310
Lexis Training for Sunshine Week with Courtney McMullan, LexisNexis
March 17 – Noon – 1pm Law Library, 2nd Floor Entry
Sunshine Week Party
Drop in for cake, FOIA trivia, and the Sunshine Week raffle (sponsored by LexisNexis). Participants do not need to be present to win raffle.