If you are mad enough to take legal action against a public authority, you have to do it publicly. The legal system is all public, so the demand that sets everything in motion ought to be public, too.

It would be a devastating blow to the basic traditions of our justice system, which is we do not have secret courts we do not have a tradition of people being able to make charges against other people and remain anonymous.

I read this thing and it blew my mind.

But it's indicative of a desire to thwart the request rather than fulfill it. That spirit of noncompliance is something that ought to concern everyone.

More and more government entities hammer out deals in secret and announce them once every last detail is decided.

I don't want to be insensitive to legitimate concerns about security and smooth operation. There are legitimate reasons for government officials to withhold some information, but I'm not sure this is one of those situations. I just don't see what the urgent need for secrecy is for these numbers.