I've also been wondering -- doesn't a secret law have to be, you know, passed by Congress and signed by the President just like any other law? (Obviously I'm not talking about secret regulations, and unlike Matt Rustler I do see the distinction). It's easy to think of a "secret law" as just one more act of the fascist Bush and his imperial cronies (or so some would say), but what's the role of Congress here?

And if Congress does vote on and pass secret laws, wouldn't it take only one congressperson (or staffer) to leak this information? With the volume of leaks spurting out of the dike that is Congress, I for one can't imagine that a secret law could remain secret for very long. And even if all staffers feared prosecution for leaking information to the press, congressmembers cannot be prosecuted for the statements they make on the floor -- yet evidently none, Republican or Democrat, has had anything to say, even vague complaints to make, about secret laws.