A series of court decisions, however, has slowly chipped away at the FBIs refusal to release dozens of pages of Lennons 300-page file. With the latest decision, Wiener a University of California at Irvine historian is a step closer to the objective of fully unmasking the FBIs unfounded spying on the rock icon. Since 1983, Wiener has been represented in U.S. District Court litigation by the ACLU Foundation.

In mid-December, a Los Angeles federal judge, Robert M. Takasugi, ordered the FBI to respond under oath to questions about whether it relied on unlawful methods in its investigation of Lennon moving the matter closer to resolution. Recently, Wiener recalled that he began his pursuit of Lennons FBI file innocently enough, thinking it might be useful for a Lennon biography he was writing. A few weeks after Lennon was shot to death in New York City in December, 1980, Wiener filed his first Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI.

"The moment of uncertainty came in 1984, when I had to decide whether to publish the book without the materials," Wiener said, recalling the dilemma he faced after the FBI released more than 200 pages of Lennon materials, but withheld the rest on questionable national security grounds. Publish he did, and the book "Come Together: John Lennon In His Time" remains in print. A second paperback edition was published in the United Kingdom last year. "Come Together" has been translated into Japanese and Russian.

"In retrospect," Wiener said, "the decision to publish the book at that time was the smartest thing I ever did." Critically acclaimed when it came out, the book's reputation was buttressed by the reality that the FBI had worked feverishly to thwart Wiener's research. The volume has remained one of the most important works documenting the rock age.

"We've been arguing ever since 1983. The FBI's claim that the release of these pages could cause damage to national security is absurd," Wiener said. "I think this latest ruling is an important step in moving the FBI and the Justice Department toward what we hope will be the release of all the documents and the successful end of our case."

And what would Wiener do with the documents if he got them tomorrow? He thought about it for a minute, then replied: "I would consider doing a new edition with an additional chapter. I think its important to keep up the battle."