Saturday, March 11, 2006

Analysis: States steadily restricting info

As Sunshine Week kicks off, an Associated Press 50-state survey finds that states have steadily limited the public's access to government information since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. State legislatures have passed more than 1,000 laws changing access to information, approving more than twice as many measures that restrict information as laws that open government books, the survey finds.

Overall, the AP found that states passed 616 laws that restricted access to government records, databases, meetings and more, and 284 laws that loosened access. Another 123 laws had either a neutral or mixed effect, the AP found.

(Note: I provided assistance to the Massachusetts AP bureau in researching laws here.)

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