A federal judge has ruled that the motion Talibanista John Walker Lindh made for reduction of his sentence can remain secret, according to this AP story by Larry Neumeister. The AP had submitted an FOIA request for the petition, hoping "there might be allegations of government misconduct in the papers."

The government responded that the documents should be kept secret because they are similar to personal and medical records and because no evidence of government misconduct in the case had been alleged.

The judge actually bought that.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska decided the documents can remain sealed because prosecutors said Lindh's motion did not contain allegations of government misconduct.

Huh? Since when is a defendant's motion to reduce his sentence analogous to a medical record? Criminal defendants are prosecuted in the name of the general public. We are the real parties to the action, and the prosecutor is only our advocate. Criminal cases are the public's business, and their records should be open except for special exceptions to protect the privacy of innocent parties. The public interest in open proceedings is not limited to allegations of government misconduct.