If you ever wondered how important it is for the public to have access to government information, here's your answer: Your own personal safety might be at risk.

From a story everyone should read in this morning's Dallas Morning News by reporter Robert T. Garrett:

AUSTIN – More than 1,500 Texas offenders who had their records sealed from public view were charged with new crimes in the past two years.

And about 10 percent of their 2,300 alleged new offenses were violent, including a handful of killings and sexual assaults ...

The statistics, obtained by The Dallas Morning News from the Department of Public Safety under state public-information law, offer the first glimpse of behavior in the "free world" by 14,000 people who invoked a 2003 law to have their records sealed. It also raises tricky questions about whether society, wielding an eraser or a court seal, can help give first-time offenders a fresh start without impeding law enforcement and perhaps creating safety risks.