Pennsylvania open record bill advances
The Pennsylvania Senate approved a public records bill and now it advances to the House (see
story). Politicians say it will make the state one of the most open in the country, which, frankly, is hogwash. The law keeps secret criminal investigations, civil investigations, crime victim information, 911 tapes and autopsy reports. That's not open. To compare the state (or your own state) to other states check out the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Web site (
http://rcfp.org/ogg/) or the Citizen Access Project state comparison site at
http://www.citizenaccess.org.