George Washington Bridge

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the John Doe proceedings in Bridgegate will be in public beginning today. (Richard Drew | AP)

NEWARK -- The public does not know the identity of "John Doe," the unnamed Bridgegate unindicted co-conspirator who filed a last-minute petition to keep his name a secret, but the process of arguing whether it should remain that way will occur in public.

A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Friday agreed with a coalition of news media organizations that arguments in the John Doe case should be in public.

According to the court's order, all the documents in the appeal, including the briefs filed last week arguing the merits of public versus secret proceedings, will be part of the court's public record as of noon today. Oral arguments before the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, scheduled for June 6, also will be public.

The identities of "John Doe" and all other unindicted co-conspirators in the case will remain secret at least for now, the court said.

According to a schedule set by the court, John Doe's attorney, Jenny Kramer of Chadbourne & Parke in New York, has a deadline of 4 p.m. today to file a brief arguing to keep John Doe's identity secret.

The news media organizations, which include NJ Advance Media, have a Friday deadline to reply. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, who has supported keeping unindicted co-conspirators' names secret, also may weigh in Friday.

John Doe's reply deadline is June 1.

The case made its way to the Third Circuit after Kramer filed a motion May 12, hours before the names were to be made public under order by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton. She is presiding over the criminal case against Bridget Anne Kelly, former deputy chief of staff for Gov. Chris Christie, and Bill Baroni, ex-deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who are accused of plotting to cause chaos in Fort Lee in 2013 as retribution for Mayor Mark Sokolich's decision not to endorse Christie's re-election.

Wigenton earlier this month ruled that the public interest in keeping Bridgegate proceedings public outweighed the privacy rights of unindicted co-conspirators, who are individuals that prosecutors believe either were involved in the plot to cause traffic jams in Fort Lee or its coverup.

Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.