I agree with Orin that there is much to comment in Rob Loblaw's post, but I disagree with the bottom line. If Higazy sought to have his allegations kept secret, I would agree that keeping such information under seal would not be particularly sinister or problematic. Yet that does not appear to be what happened in this case. To the contrary, as noted here, Higazy's lawyer opposed keeping the allegations under seal.

As I noted in my prior post on the matter, I agree that there are legitimate reasons for the government to file information under seal, and there are even legitimate reasons for the government to keep its interrogation protocols under wraps. In this case, however, what is at issue is not the government's standard interrogation methods or guidelines, but specific allegations of government misconduct in a specific interrogation. Such allegations, and the public's interest in allegations of government malfeasance, would seem to outweigh the government's interest in keeping its interrogation methods secret, particularly since such secrecy could be a means of preventing the disclosure of government malfeasance.