Dear Joan, I did a google search for the governor of NJ and was able to send him a email from his site regarding this matter, and I urge all on our list to do the same. Little by little our rights are being taken away from us. We have to stand togeather and protest this kind of government. In my letter to him I told him as genealogists if this information were to be sealed it would bring our research to a screeching holt. And as NJ is one of the original Colonies it is even more important that we be able to have access to this information. I'm all the way in California, but those of you in NJ might consider protesting outside these offices to obtain more public awareness. Also talk to someone at your local newspaper office and try to get an artical published. I hope all of you will do what ever you can to stop this from moving forward. Maryann Clark "Joan M Lowry (GSNJ)" <jml-gsnj@earthlink.net> wrote: Hi Maryann & list My understanding is that the Freedom of Information Act actually applies to Federal Records and doesn't apply to records created by an individual state or county. However, NJ has an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) that functions in much the same way. This bill would remove vital records from those records to which OPRA regulations apply. That's one reason it is a bad piece of legislation - and could leave us on a slippery slope - once they do this to vital records, then why not some other records? What if they decided to close wills and estate files next, for instance! I have hope that the legislators will hear our pleas and be open to correcting the language of the bill. Certainly they'll know we're upset! They had suggested before that they might be open to changing the language - so let's hope they still are. Regards, Joan Joan M. Lowry mailto:jmlowry@earthlink.net > -----Original Message----- > From: maryann clark [mailto:mrmc4540@yahoo.com] > Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 1:23 PM > To: NJ-GSNJ-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [GSNJ] NJ Vitals > > > I don't understand how they can do this. What happened to > the " Freedom of Information Act " ???? > > Maryann Clark > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== Save the Date!!! Save the Date!!! Save the Date!!! GSNJ 2006 Spring Conference -- Saturday, June 3rd ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx --------------------------------- What are the most popular cars? Find out at Yahoo! Autos