For the second time in less than three months, a federal judge has ruled that the names of the students challenging Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy must be publicly disclosed.

In an order issued yesterday, U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren ruled that lawyers for the four anonymous students seeking to overturn the school's century-old Hawaiian-preference policy haven't provided any new facts to warrant a reversal.

"Plaintiffs have not shown a sufficient 'need for anonymity' that trumps the 'presumption, firmly rooted in American law of openess in judicial proceedings,' " Kurren wrote.

Kurren ruled on Oct. 28 that the names of the students, who are being referred to as Jacob, Janet, Karl and Lisa Doe, must be disclosed.

He ruled then that the public, as in other civil rights cases, has "a strong interest in knowing who is using the courts to vindicate their rights."

The attorneys for the four students, David Rosen and Eric Grant, had asked Kurren to reconsider, citing anonymous threats posted on the Internet and hostile remarks attached to the comment sections of local online news stories about the admissions controversy.

Parents of the students have said in court papers that they may drop the lawsuit if the children are not allowed to pursue their lawsuit anonymously.

The four students, who are not of Hawaiian ancestry, applied for admission to Kamehameha in the 2008-09 school year, but were rejected.

Rosen could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But Rosen and Grant can file an appeal with U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright, who is overseeing the case.

Founded by the 1884 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Kamehameha Schools is a charitable trust that educates children of native Hawaiian ancestry. The estate is the state's largest private landowner and is one of the nation's wealthiest trusts, with assets of more than $9 billion.

The lawsuit is just one of several seeking to overturn the Hawaiian-preference policy. A previous lawsuit by an anonymous student was settled before it went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The trust was able to preserve its admissions policy but ended up paying the student $7 million.