~ more secrecy in government documents in 2004 ~

OpentheGovernment.org has released its 2004 Secrecy Report, Quantitative Indicators of Secrecy in the Federal Government, a slim, very readable pdf comparing the 2004 closure of records with prior years. Areas touched on are the Federal invocation of the "state secrets" privilege, classification of Federal documents and patents, the restrictions in public access to government committees and new privacy applications to state records. And the reasons given are not all under the umbrella of "terrorism", as noted in this one example.

At least 62 new state laws expanded secrecy in 2004; Only 38 laws strengthened open government. One new law in Louisiana bars the use of electronic scanners to copy public documents. A homeland security measure?

No, the sponsor wanted the government to keep the revenue from those copying fees.