The arraignment judge I appeared before had a real ‘thing’ about spelling. He would red-pencil forms and refused to accept charges if there was more than one misspelling. He used to go ballistic when the misspellings were contained in the law, which had to be quoted exactly. It was a mess. They would also produce laws with the same letter designation for two separate sub-sections, which was also a mess.

There is a long and justified history of anonymous speech in this country, including the use by newspapers of editorials with no byline, only a reference to ‘the editors’ or ‘the editorial board’. The NY legislature needs to read a little history and get out more often. They could start by reading the Federalist papers.

I have published under my real name for decades, but faced with such a law I would make up a pseudonym just to defy it. Anonymous or pseudonymous speech emphatically does have a place in the discourse of a free society.