Maryland bills on university research

The Maryland General Assembly is considering two bills that would put certain university professors' records out of reach of the state public information law. Inspired by the cases in Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan, most access advocates think the bills are a bad idea. As the head of New York's FOI office (a state agency) says, "Missing from the bills is a standard based on the likelihood or even the possibility of harm. Absent a standard of that nature, the ability to deny access is, in my view, far too broad." Read the bills here: HB62 and SB592.