It is not uncommon for there to be a delay in the release of information in a major crime pending investigation. What was weird is that the police quickly confirmed that Hale acted alone and Hale was dead. There is no prosecution that will occur in the case. Yet, it is May and the authorities are still refusing to release the manifesto . . . and they will not fully explain why. Now, the National Police Association and other groups are suing to make the writings and other materials of mass shooter Audrey Hale public.

There were twenty journals, five laptops, a suicide note, yearbooks, cellphones and various notes written by Hale, 28, that were seized from the house she shared with her parents. There have been press reports that the authorities consider the manifesto to be “astronomically dangerous.”

They may be unsettling and even dangerous, but the question is the right of the authorities to keep such evidence from the public and the press. The government can always declare information to be too “dangerous” to release for a variety of reasons. However, we have a system that defaults to disclosures and public access.

[And for good reason. Does anyone doubt that if the perp had been a “far right” nutcase with a manifesto that the police and prosecutors would have withheld it? If so, I have a bridge in Texas to sell you. — Ed]