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Maryland Bill Seeks To Protect Professors

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- A Baltimore lawmaker has proposed a bill seeking to protect the academic freedom of professors. However, the bill by Del. Sandy Rosenberg is now prompting freedom of information concerns.

The Baltimore Sun reported Rosenberg is trying to protect academics from situations like a case in Virginia where the state's attorney general subpoenaed a climate researcher in a fraud case.

Rosenberg's bill would allow the state's public universities to deny requests under the Public Information Act for faculty research and correspondence that includes proprietary ideas or data. Rosenberg said universities could not deny requests for administrative or financial data.

But some open-government advocates say there are instances where academics need to be subject to public scrutiny and they are concerned the bill is too broad.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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