Well, they let the judges dress up like Superman

From this month's Art News, a report from Jeff Grossman

Guerrilla Skirmish

"The Guerrilla Girls have been battling bias against women in art institutions across the country for 20 years with informative billboards and posters. Donning gorilla masks and, during protests, adopting the names of women artists both famous and obscure, members of the group have carefully preserved their anonymity, with more than 100 women having participated over the years. Now a case pending in federal court may force them to shed their disguises and reveal their identities. The collective has broken down into factions fighting for the right to use the Guerrilla Girls name.

The plaintiffs, artists Jerilea Zempel and Erika Rothenberg, are being represented by Theodore K. Cheng, Esq., of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Zempel and Rothenberg, also known as "Frida Kahlo" and "Käthe Kollwitz," formed the corporation Guerrilla Girls in September 1999. They claim in their lawsuit against Guerrilla Girls Broadband and a group of 17 anonymous women, who also identify themselves as Guerrilla Girls, that they "have been the guiding force behind Guerrilla Girls since its founding." Zempel and Rothenberg say they are the actual authors of the books Confessions of the Guerrilla Girls (1995) and The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to Western Art (1998), both published in the group's name. According to court documents, Zempel and Rothenberg maintain that the name Guerrilla Girls and all intellectual-property rights associated with it belong to them or the corporation. They claim that when they formed the corporation, the group was no longer in existence.

The 17 women, who are represented by attorney Barbara Hoffman, say that Zempel and Rothenberg don't own the Guerrilla Girls name or property, and that the informal group remains active. They asked the court to let them participate without revealing their true names—a request that Judge Louis L. Stanton of the District Court for the Southern District of New York denied in October. The defendants have requested that they testify on the witness stand wearing their masks, a move that Judge Stanton said might seem "bizarre." One of the women, known as "Gertrude Stein," said in an affidavit, "The revelation of the identity of the Guerrilla Girls, even now, would destroy the effectiveness of the messages originally conveyed."

Pretrial proceedings are on hold while the anonymity ruling is appealed. The court of appeals in New York is scheduled to take up the issue next month, says Hoffman."

I think it's a real shame they're not allowed to keep their masks on. It's not like they're trying to make a mockery of court proceedings.

This brings back to my mind the case of the guy arrested for mooning Chancellor Helmut Kohl back in the 90s who was, unfortunately, denied his request at his trial that Kohl be brought into the court to correctly identify the defendant's arse. Brilliant.