The new and perplexing vexations of sovereign citizens [NYTIMES] Sometimes I read an article about a social phenomenon that is completely perplexing. This is one of those times. And if you liked the coverage of incidents reviewed in book A Libertarian into a Bear and here, this story is DEFINITELY for you.
Some highlights from the article:
” Ms. Little was a victim of a ploy known as paper terrorism, a favorite tactic of an extremist group that is one of the fastest growing… the Moorish sovereign citizen movement… it encourages followers to violate existent laws in the name of empowerment. Experts say it lures marginalized people to its ranks with the false promise that they are above the law.”
“Increasingly, across the country sovereign citizens have clashed with the authorities, tied up resources and frazzled lives in their insistence that laws, such as the requirement to pay taxes, obey speed limits and even obtain, say, a license for a pet dog, do not apply to them. People who claim to be Moorish sovereign citizens believe they are bound mainly by maritime law, not the law of the places where they live, said Mellie Ligon, a lawyer and author of a study of their impact on the judicial system in the Emory International Law Review.” (Emphasis mine)
Apparent relations to claims in Admiralty Court, somehow?
In another of these cases:
“Judge Terrence McGann did not agree: ‘Under your set of rules, every house is fair game, you own the entire United States, you own the oceans, you own anything you want,” he said, according to reports. ‘And that’s not how a free, orderly society works.'”