now many governments are secret police states.
the public no longer has a right to know what
government is doing - the webmaster


States put a leash on information
Security concerns cited in curbing 'sunshine' laws
Nearly half the states are closing meetings, sealing records and 
restricting the flow of information to the public, all in the name of 
homeland security. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, dozens of 
state legislatures have considered, and many have passed, exemptions 
to their freedom-of-information laws. Most of the exemptions allow 
emergency and evacuation plans to be kept secret. Some of them shield 
maps and illustrations of government buildings, utility plants, 
bridges, water and sewer lines, and transportation routes. The trend 
in the states matches a similar effort by the federal government. As 
part of legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security last 
year, Congress shielded information about possible private-sector 
vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks. The law imposes criminal 
penalties on people who release such information. Taken together, the 
measures passed in the states and in Washington represent the biggest 
rollback of open-government laws since they were passed in the 1960s 
and '70s.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030403/5028928s.htm