What is the right to remain anonymous?

Talley v. State of California, 362 U.S. 60, 80 S.Ct. 536, 4 L.Ed.2d 559, establishes that the First Amendment right of freedom of speech includes the right to remain anonymous. The [69 Cal.2d 74] Supreme Court reviewed a Los Angeles city ordinance which prohibited distribution of any handbill unless there was imprinted on the document the name and address of the person who produced it and who caused the same to be distributed. The court noted that 'Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all. * * * The old seditious libel cases in England show the lengths to which government had to go to find out who was responsible for books that were obnoxious to the rulers. * * * Even the Federalist Papers, written in favor of the adoption of our Constitution, were published under fictitious names. It is plain that anonymity has sometimes been assumed for the most constructive purposes.' (Id. at pp. 64--65, 80 S.Ct. at p. 538.)