Chisun Lee of the Village Voice suggests the Justice Department is subverting its own secrecy arguments with respect to the detainees in Open-and-Shut Cases.

If the Justice Department is so concerned about the need for secrecy, so concerned it must keep the detainees' cases out of U.S. federal courts, then why all the detail in last week's six indictments out of Detroit and Seattle?

"Last week's indictments seemed to reveal exactly the sort of information the government said it wanted to protect in a recent court fight with civil liberties organizations seeking the names of more than 750 September 11 detainees...."

"...for the government's critics, last week's events called for some serious explaining: If national security and significant amounts of public information can coexist—as the recent court papers in Detroit and Seattle indicate—then why is the government fighting to keep secret hundreds of detainee cases and hearings?"

Good question, don't you think?