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In Natrona County, Wyo., officials battled for months to force Ed Corrigan to clear debris, broken-down vehicles and other junk from the property he occupies. [73] See March-Safborn, supra note 64, at 42. [65] The result is a patchwork of remedies that include administrative, judicial, civil, and criminal penalties. [16] Mastrony, supra note 10, at 1015, 101721. with a sovereign citizen. kd~UK!\SDgP*i(OQYHl+:[f =>>' The shared view is that sovereign citizens' arguments cannot be backed up by actual statute law, the Constitution, or common law. An example of a sovereign citizen is someone who refuses to pay his income taxes, and then presents evidence as to why he should not have to pay them. See Charles E. Loeser, From Paper Terrorists to Cop Killers: The Sovereign Citizen Threat 93 N.C. L. Rev. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/sovereign-citizen-wayne-kenneth-glew-court-incitement-charge/100882616, Get breaking news alerts directly to your phone with our app, Former minister takes 'absolute responsibility' for Robodebt, admits defending scheme despite knowing it could be unlawful, 'Sickening, callous and brazen': Sydney man dies in hail of bullets in front of 12yo son, Evelyn worked three jobs when she was in her 20s to build up her super. believe they were Americas original inhabitants and are therefore entitled to self-governing, nation-within-a-nation status, claiming to possess territories within the United States made up of land they do not legally own.). RICO laws were originally drafted to fight organized crime but now are sometimes applied to other forms of criminal enterprise. [37] These liens, which are easy and cheap to file online but time-consuming and expensive to fight,[38] have devastating effects on the ordinary government officials, explaining why they have become sovereign citizens weapon of choice. [10] They are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or sovereign from the United States.[11] Over the past sixty years, several distinct groups evolved and merged to form the modern idea of sovereign citizenship; accordingly, these groups do not belong to a centralized organization with joint leaders or official beliefs but instead share similar broad beliefs about the governments jurisdiction and ability to govern its citizens. Mr Glew, who represented himself in court, told Magistrate Matthew Walton he had been "inundated with calls from several barristers"claiming the police search warrant of his Glenfield property in early February was "a fraud". They think the replacement government swapped common law for admiralty law, which is the law of . [3] See Joe Pometto, Sovereign Citizens: Deconstructing, Decoding And Deflating The Worlds Most Notorious Anti-Government Movement 813 (2020). [23] Sovereign Citizens Movement, supra note 13; see also Caesar Kalinowski IV, A Legal Response to the Sovereign Citizen Movement, 80 Mont. William Foust of Coconino County, Ariz., fought a $115 traffic ticket in December, claiming state and local authorities had no authority over him. [16] The resulting fusion between the Sovereign Citizen and anti-vax movements bolstered Sovereign numbers throughout the country. [34] See, e.g., DMV Hearing Featuring Sovereign Citizen Marc Stevens, supra note 25 (repeatedly challenging the applicability of the states laws to the defendant). The answer is a bit more complex than most people think. Judges view sovereign citizens the same way most people view mosquitoes. Ultimately, deterring sovereign citizens dangerous beliefs, and the means they use to wreak havoc on the legal community, are worth those possible effects. [25]Thus, Americas economic loss is the Sovereign leaders financial gain. [25] See Sullivan, supra note 14, at 798800. [58] See Gino Spocchia, QAnon Merges with White Extremists and Spreads New Conspiracy Trump Will Be President Again on March 4, The Independent, (Jan. 26, 2021, 1:56 PM), https://bit.ly/3vcaMrz. In fact, in surveys that were conducted in 2014 and 2015, law enforcement officials believed that terrorist acts by sovereign citizens were of a higher risk than that posed by Neo-Nazis, militants, and racists. [55] These websites likely would not convert individuals already entrenched in the Sovereign ideology. Also in December, Douglas Baldwin of Del Norte County, Calif., claimed sovereign status and turned a traffic violation into jail time by violating a court order and resisting a peace officer. [30], Sovereign citizen arguments often, but not always, include religious elements. Magistrate Walton noted Mr Glew had notentered a plea but had indicated he would plead not guilty to the charge. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement, https://cedars.cedarville.edu/2021/10/recent-vaccine-mandates-raise-questions-and-controversy-over-constitutional-rights/, https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-anti-vaxxers-anti-maskers-and-the-sovereign-citizen-movement-20210814-3xpmibj26zhpbce3yk74qztu5m-story.html, https://www.justsecurity.org/77328/sovereign-citizens-more-than-paper-terrorists/, https://iaals.du.edu/sites/default/files/documents/publications/barton_american_distrust_of_the_judiciary.pdf, https://news.gallup.com/poll/171992/americans-losing-confidence-branches-gov.aspx, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-lMmPd5-g8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjly8zplatc&list=PLvpewVS8zsgikjR1-D1vxFDGW6eEIs3vs&index=6, 07_Crowell Gatekeeper orders Jan 262010.pdf (unc.edu), https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hydra-Greek-mythology, THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT: WHAT, A CONVERSATION WITH THE CHIEF: A MODERN REFLECTION ON THE HAPPINESS, HEALTH, AND ETHICS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION WITH CHIEF JUDGE PATRICK J. SCHILTZ, LIFE-OR-DEATH LEGALESE: THE EXECUTION OF MATTHEW REEVES AND THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF POORLY TARGETED LEGAL DRAFTING, NOT FLYING SOLO: HOW SOUTHWESTS MASSIVE FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS LED TO SEVERAL CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS. [40] See Mastrony, supra note 10, at 102425; Sullivan, supra note 14, at 786. Republican state Rep. Richard Marple is scheduled to introduce a bill that treats sovereign citizens as a recognized legal class, and proposes a $10,000 fine for state agencies that don't buy . Related: Sovereign Citizen Gets Tased Trying To Enter Courtroom 49 89 Frauditor_Huntress 5 days ago Round 2 Adam Sovereign Citizen stopped by police, officer is hilarious. [34] See, e.g., Michael Harriot, Video Goes Viral of Crazy Confrontation After Couple Refuses to Hand Over License, The Root, (Sept. 13, 2017), https://bit.ly/3uxxVWq (reporting on a video of a Colorado Springs, Colorado, sovereign citizen couple who refused to hand over identification at a routine traffic stop, leading to police smashing their window). The most troubling thing about SovCits is that they seem to be determined to shoot themselves in the foot. L. Rev. Id. Terry Nichols, one of the perpetrators of the bombing, had used sovereign citizen tactics in court cases and attempted to renounce his citizenship in the years prior to the bombing. [17] Some sovereign [citizens] believe this perfidious change occurred during the Civil War, while others blame the events of 1933, when the U.S abandoned the gold standard.[18], Sovereign citizens believe that this change from common law to admiralty law means that judges, lawyers, and some law enforcement officials are actually foreign agents,[19] acting out against sovereign citizens due to the law enforcements treasonous loyalty to hidden and malevolent government forces.[20] Sovereign citizens are split, though, on whether lawyers and judges are aware of the switch to admiralty law and are hiding it or whether they are uninformed, indoctrinated by government propaganda. [12] The grossly disparate nature of the two groups practices and world views means that they might as well be (and often actually are) speaking different languages. Alternatively, increasing punishments for frivolous lawsuits could discourage those from seeking judgment on legitimate issues for fear of penalty, making filing a lawsuit more difficult than it already is. Ctr., supra note 8 (discussing the case of Donna Lee Wray, who succeeded in having her charge dropped after filing ten documents in two months to contest her $20 dog licensing citation). [47] The benefits of pre-filing injunctions are obvious; they remove the Sovereign Citizens favorite weapon from their arsenal by requiring a judge to sign off on any filings proposed by the pro se litigant. [16] See Christine M. Sarteschi, Anti-vaxxers, Anti-maskers, and the Sovereign Citizen Movement, N.Y. Daily News (Aug. 14, 2021), https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-anti-vaxxers-anti-maskers-and-the-sovereign-citizen-movement-20210814-3xpmibj26zhpbce3yk74qztu5m-story.html [https://perma.cc/94U9-ZXU3] (describing how Sovereign Citizen rhetoric has pervaded recent lawsuits protesting COVID regulations). Wayne Kenneth Glew, 74, appeared in the Geraldton Magistrates Court as about 40 supporters rallied outside the building. Sovereign Citizens: a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The term "sovereign citizen" is a catch-all phrase referring to several loosely connected groups centered around a similar theme. [22] Such beliefs include that once the United States moved away from backing the U.S. dollar with gold to instead backing it with the full faith and credit of the federal government, the government began to use its citizenry as collateral; that the government has s[old citizens] future earning capabilities to foreign investors, starting at birth with the issuance of a birth certificate and Social Security number; and that the government uses the birth certificate to set up a [secret] corporate trust in the babys name, creating a corporate shell account with which the baby now must split their rights. In January, a federal grand jury in Detroit indicted David A. Cusumano and Henry Nino on 14 counts of obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws, including the use of worthless "bills of exchange" to pay their taxes. [3] While Sovereigns have generally moved away from the racist and antisemitic views that originally defined the group, a belief that has never wavered is that the American Government comprises an illegal operation. HUMo@#{`Eb(U8TCLrFNl!ev|yXH_jb}bi.Qc$H)lu#mk%xRlk,w}vBS#>E-F1/z`P{4HU'}OxXy]sB=-na1E{MxOZU9n3smJF#
a/:qi!Z-lR~
T)O)T`-j"eml4\%\#}@xi*t\pp). [18] See, e.g., Benjamin H. Barton, American (Dis)Trust of the Judiciary, IAALS (Sept. 2019), https://iaals.du.edu/sites/default/files/documents/publications/barton_american_distrust_of_the_judiciary.pdf [https://perma.cc/RE3L-6N6D] (discussing the bipartisan criticisms that have been levied against the legal system and the Supreme Court in particular). hWn6>
,8MJ:{H/`2p4sfx$e gF3kZ4" 0PF3Af5:P.TY+$Lj=V1i(DIk0D24[C3=fgp>}*jbVb,zffRLf6]]\~3U1!T}3U1:7gpt/?]Un=df`q~4x#R?8\%FaBOM4e%DFVs2 Z$=T^IBV9~A[n=i,lRz-mj1Gj,l%l?f?|]*Ek?z:.^,WOb]'l eQ~X%l-W$[G~~Cz~_~N2$0 Authorities say the suspects fabricated quitclaim deeds transferring ownership of the properties to themselves, then filed the phony paperwork with the courts. Suggested Citation: Holly Christensen, The Uses and Abuses of the Judicial System, Penn St. L. [20] This tactic is especially effective in persuading individuals with impending financial difficulties such as rent arrearage or foreclosures, as the dire nature of their situation provides the impetus to search for a magic pill not provided under traditional law. The sovereign citizen movement is a loose grouping of litigants, activists, tax protesters, financial scheme promoters and conspiracy theorists, who claim to be answerable only to their. [31] Additionally exacerbating is the fact that many hearings involving Sovereigns take place in traffic court, where Sovereign Citizens attempt to defeat their (often relatively inconsequential) citations with arguments such as claiming that they were traveling, not driving,[32] funky Corpus Delicti,[33] and of course, old reliable, lack of jurisdiction. Immunity to statutory, vehicle, and civil law. at 5861 (noting that this argument stems from Sovereign Citizens importing the definition of driver in some federal statutes as imposing the requirement that to drive one must be engaged in interstate commerce). [54] Additionally, efforts by governmental agencies or non-profit legal organizations to publish online educational sources covering the pitfalls of Sovereign Citizens would provide a counter force preempting Sovereign guru propaganda on Sovereigns most fruitful medium. [45] A commitment surely bolstered from the pecuniary benefits they enjoy from publicizing their ideologies.[46]. [42], The sovereign citizen movement is broad, varied, and complex. While at BYU she was awarded a Global Politics Research Fellowship and the 2021 Tanner Diplomacy Scholarship. National cabinet encourages wearing masks to combat COVID-19. . [2] See Criminal Complaint, United States v. Bauer, No. The sovereign citizen movement does not even recognize U.S. currency as real money. %PDF-1.5
%
The burly man struggled to break free as he was escorted out of a courthouse . A Geraldton 'sovereign citizen'campaigner has faced court charged with inciting his followers to arrest government ministers and other officials. Id. The Sovereign belief system. Map. [56] See Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, Jesus Christ Superstar Actor, An Accused Capitol Rioter, Claimed Divine Authority in Court Hearing, CNN (Nov. 29, 2021, 9:00 PM), https://cnn.it/3jyrv2O. One proposal is to impose harsher sanctions on attorneys who participate in these lawsuits, but this approach would likely be unsuccessful as most sovereign citizens represent themselves in court proceedings. Legal challenges to Capitol Riot-related charges signal no hesitation on behalf of sovereign citizens to fight their political battles in court, and, as Pauline Bauers 114-page notice to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia suggests, sovereign citizens are not easily ignored. [61] These documents are dense and convoluted, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as nonsensical,[62] which ensures that sovereign citizen cases bog down the entire judicial system. [33] See Law Talk with Mike, Sovereign Citizens in Court #6, YouTube (Jan. 24, 2021), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjly8zplatc&list=PLvpewVS8zsgikjR1-D1vxFDGW6eEIs3vs&index=6 (defendant in a traffic action asserting that Corpus Delicti is kinda funky because the State of Washington is a fictitious plaintiff); see also Pometto, supra note 3, at 75 (containing further discussion of Sovereigns misconception surrounding this legal doctrine). [71] Most states has passed some version of a vexatious litigant statute; the statutes usually involve specific standards that, once satisfied, are met with punishments ranging from fines to prohibition from taking legal action. [1] [20] Sovereign Citizens Movement, supra note 13. She claimed she had committed her life to stopping these unlawful acts against people all over the world.. Mr Glew, who is part of an informal movement of sovereign citizens, told Mr Walton he wanted the case sent to the High Court. 2004) (articulating a four part test for issuing a pre-filing injunction (1) the partys history of litigation, in particular whether he has filed vexatious, harassing, or duplicative lawsuits; (2) if the party files his cases on good faith bases, or only to harass; (3) the extent of the burden on the courts and other parties resulting from the partys filings, and (4) if alternative sanctions are adequate). 1 0 obj
Holly Christensen is a first-year J.D. [47] See Sullivan, supra note 14, at 801. [64] See Terri A. March-Safborn, Weapons of Mass Distraction: Strategies for Countering the Paper Terrorism of Sovereign Citizens (March 2018), at 41 (M.A. But a contractor suspended the work four months later after finding toxic asbestos among the debris. Elimination of federal and state income tax. [37] See Stork & Beumer, supra note 12, at 46. The once-isolated political sect has ballooned to over 300,000 followers, and the rapid proliferation of their pseudo-legal ideologies is severely compromising court efficiency. In one of the first cases of its kind, 12 sovereigns in North Georgia charged with stealing properties worth millions of dollars including mansions and a strip mall in Atlanta's wealthy Buckhead neighborhood are being prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Such evidence can come in the form of websites that support his ideology, or excerpts from Supreme Court decisions that he manipulates into justifying his point of view. Core tenets of 'Sovereign Citizen' law are things like 'claiming a court cannot try you because they fly a gold-fringed flag, thus making it an admiralty court' and 'because I declare myself a sovereign citizen, many laws don't apply to me.' This is, of course, absurd. [49] More importantly though, pre-filing injunctions are often akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. 21-cr-00386 (D. D.C. 2021), https://bit.ly/3O7jSOU. [13] See Sovereign Citizens Movement, S. Poverty L. Other widely publicized examples include the 2010 West Memphis police shootings and 2014 Bundy family standoff. [1] Sovereign Citizens abject refusal to stipulate to even the most basic tenets of the established legal system has resulted in a paper war, in which courts are bombarded with legally baseless filings and motions, causing general chaos, confusion for legal professionals, and never-ending delays. Denver airline pilot Jack Wharton Thomas, who had argued that his income didn't qualify as taxable "wages," was sentenced in January to 10 years' probation for tax evasion and fraud. He ended up in jail on contempt of court charges, with his fine increased to $1,052. [2] Id. [49] And some sovereign citizens, although admittedly it is a small fraction, believe that the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were a coordinated attempt to stop information about the fraudulent government from being exposed to the public. [1] Michelle Theret, Sovereign Citizens: A Homegrown Terrorist Threat and Its Negative Impact on South Carolina, 63 S.C. L. Rev. Just because you d 2:20-cv-02157-JAD-VCF, 2021 WL 537104, at *1 (D. Nev. Jan. 19, 2021). No obligation to pay a traffic or speeding ticket. [22] See Sovereign Citizens Movement, supra note 13. XI!Be
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[22] See U.S. Census Bureau, P60-273, Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020 13 (2021) (stating that there were over 37 million impoverished Americans in 2020); Justin McCarthy, Americans Losing Confidence in All Branches of U.S. Govt, GALLUP (June 30, 2014), https://news.gallup.com/poll/171992/americans-losing-confidence-branches-gov.aspx [https://perma.cc/F8BE-6QAG] (indicating that the general publics trust of the judicial system has decreased by over 20% in a five year period). Another profitable recruitment tactic for Sovereign gurus is exploiting the disenfranchised and the desperate. Beyond the inconvenience these cases cause, it is the responsibility of the legal community to contest misleading and destructive legal theories with accurate information to create a more just and fair legal system for all citizens of the United States. [36] See Mastrony, supra note 10, at 101617; see also Goode, supra note 35. [33] This is usually harmlessleading to hundreds of viral videos on the internet showing various law enforcement officials and judges castigating sovereign citizens for their nonsensical legal arguments and briefs. g"w1 )f)/ hG!;6OGNM)Dj9h~(J# =HN5"%C3z!yIE%J,oLLd{;Wwm
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Zf*b%&Tk=.L1|&FO(/R'Qo!Gt{DqSx2yY]A.yNydcC2O4MDFUle [8] Admiralty-Maritime Sovereign Citizens believe that the common law legal system of the founding fathers was swapped for admiralty law when the United States abandoned the gold standard. So which ones are best? The inability of another person to sue them in court. The sovereign citizen phenomenon is one of the main contemporary sources of pseudolaw: adherents to its ideology notably believe that courts have no actual jurisdiction over people and that the use of certain procedures (such as writing specific phrases on bills they do not want to pay) and loopholes can make one immune from government laws and In 1996, the population of Algorta was 35,600. [45] See Loeser, supra note 40, at 1130 (describing how zealous leaders have claimed that jail will not prevent them from continuing to advocate for the Sovereign Citizen cause). [29] Instead, they declare themselves citizens of only their state, or in some cases, simply free people living under God. HPZm{O CS*h8
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M!$ )>ny %}5qnv|=t #% u Harder to dismiss are the effects these conspiracy theorists have on the legal system, where simple court cases can be tied up for months as sovereign citizens file thousands of documents, overwhelming prosecutors, public defenders, and judges. %%EOF
at 154 (detailing how the Sovereign belief system applies to any law at any level of government). [44] Furthermore, recognized Sovereign leaders have demonstrated a steadfastness to their beliefs, even when it results in personal legal difficulties. Sovereigns believe that the American government set up by the founding fathers, under a common-law legal system, was secretly replaced. The Flagship Publication of Penn State Law, I, me, Pauline from the house of Bauer challenge the courts [sic] jurisdiction over me, a living woman, one of we the people, creator of Government.[1] So begins a ramblingand often incoherent114-page notice to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He has refused to pay a $143,840 fine levied by a judge against him in May 2010, as well as an additional $52,120 in October. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. The legal community cannot solve the problem of a conspiracy theory, especially one that is rooted in the belief that the legal community and the government are already lying to them. That's basically what a sovereign citizen is. They tend to file lengthy, nonsensical motions, sometimes hundreds of . [26] See Pometto, supra note 3, at 106 (It is the tactic of the Sovereign Citizen to defect, delay, and create a buffer between themselves and the judge.). [21] Because America has never experienced a shortage of the financially troubled or those disillusioned with the traditional legal system, Sovereign leaders are not limited to recruiting political extremists, and instead have an inexhaustible pool of potential customers. An oldie but a goodie. Some examples of sovereign citizens engaging in dangerous behavior include: Still another example of a sovereign citizen can be found in the case of USA v. Randall Keith-Beane, Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf, which was concluded in January 2018. [13] As is the case if the court is addressing a David Wynn Miller Quantum Grammar disciple. [52] While pre-filing injunctions undoubtedly have situational utility, these gatekeeper orders likely serve only as a band-aid fix to the Sovereign Citizen epidemic. 853, 853 (2012). %
candidate at Penn State Law. This notice declared that Pauline Bauer, a Pennsylvania woman who was charged with disorderly conduct and trespass after her involvement in the Capitol Riots on January 6, 2021,[2] is not a person,[3] but instead a living soul.[4] Because of this, Bauer claims she is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States judicial system. There's a lot of sovereign activity in traffic court, owing to the way they positively ask for interaction with the police by driving with phony plates and so on. [70] See, e.g., 28 U.S.C. Visit us at aetv.com for more info. [29] This has led to the case failing to reach a final disposition almost three years down the line. In her testimony, Tucci-Jarraf claimed that most people dont know [whats going on] and that the highest levels do. [7] Thus, even if a court knows in advance that they are contending with a Sovereign, they will likely not know if the individual is a traditional Sovereign, an admiralty-maritime Sovereign[8], a quantum grammar Sovereign[9], or even one of the many derivative Sovereign groups such as Moorish Americans. Bauer claims to be a sovereign citizen.[9], The term sovereign citizen is a catch-all phrase referring to several loosely connected groups centered around a similar theme. [53] Ensuring that economic safety nets are in place during recessions and economic downturns will help to eliminate the desperation that leads the financially troubled to drink the Sovereign Kool-Aid. They keep digging deeper holes for themselves in quixotic confrontations with authority over everything from taxes to traffic tickets to code enforcement. [40] See Charles E. Loeser, From Paper Terrorists to Cop Killers; The Sovereign Citizen Threat, 93 N.C. L. Rev. Reed was also convicted of threatening a judge. 1013, 1013, 1015 (2016). This is because in order to obtain an injunction, the moving party will have to make a showing of improper filings meant to harass or waste the courts time. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) refers to some sovereign citizens as domestic terrorists. [65] See March-Safborn, supra note 64, at 46. This comprehensive look at how the action unfolds allows viewers to sit in the courtroom as they witness crazy courtroom moments from the most high-profile trials to minor court proceedings.A\u0026E leads the cultural conversation through high-quality, thought provoking original programming with a unique point of view. B. Assn J. [19] See S. Poverty L. Legislatures and Courts have established rules to punish those who file frivolous or false lawsuits. Online auction of Algorta n 73 - vizcaya - playa de ereaga - ed. June 29, 1990) (upholding the award of attorneys fees against Sovereign Citizen who engaged in frivolous conduct). [46] Sovereign Citizens Movement, supra note 13 (Common Law Court and National Assembly Members . In fact, some journalists have suggested that sovereign citizen belief systems have merged with Q-Anon conspiracy theories, creating crossover between the two conspiracies. Hosted by Dan Abrams, each episode includes interviews with judges, witnesses, and victims who give a first-hand account of what really happened during these intense courtroom moments. (May 1, 2014, 10:20 AM), https://bit.ly/3rAZwnx. Ctr., https://bit.ly/3rl5V6m (last visited, Apr. To my knowledge, no sovereign citizen has ever won a court case. They may "win" if they ultimately comply, or broke no laws ( freedom of speech and being stupid) is still legal or win if cop is a punk. [32] Id. 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