The sovereign citizen movement is a loose network of American litigants, commentators and financial scheme promoters, classified as an "extremist anti-government group" by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.[1]
Self-described sovereign citizens take the position that they are answerable only to common law and are not subject to any statutes or proceedings at the federal, state or municipal levels, or that they do not recognize U.S. currency and that they are "free of any legal constraints".[2]
They especially reject most forms of taxation as illegitimate.[3] Participants in the movement argue this concept in opposition to "federal citizens", who, they say, have unknowingly forfeited their rights by accepting some aspect of federal law.[4]
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The concept of a sovereign citizen may have originated in the Posse Comitatus movement as a teaching of Christian Identity minister William P. Gale. The concept has influenced the tax protester movement, the Christian Patriot movement, and the redemption movement—the last of which includes claims that the U.S. government uses its citizens as collateral against foreign debt.[4] Supporters of the movement provide explanations of how to declare sovereignty through the government.
Gale identified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as the act that converted sovereign citizens into federal citizens by agreeing to a contract to accept benefits from the federal government. Other commentators have identified other acts, including the Uniform Commercial Code,[5] the Emergency Banking Act,[5] the Zone Improvement Plan,[6] and the alleged suppression of the Titles of Nobility Amendment.[7]
Variations of the argument that an individual is "sovereign" have been rejected by the courts, especially in tax cases such as United States v. Hart,[8] Risner v. Commissioner,[9] Maxwell v. Snow,[10] Rowe v. Internal Revenue Serv.,[11] Heitman v. Idaho State Tax Commission,[12] Cobin v. Commissioner,[13] Glavin v. United States,[14] and United States v. Greenstreet.[15] The Internal Revenue Service has included "free born" or "sovereign" citizenship in its list of frivolous claims that may result in a $5000 penalty when used as the basis for an inaccurate tax return.[16]
A 2010 publication from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) estimated that approximately 100,000 Americans are "hard-core sovereign believers", and that another 200,000 are "just starting out by testing sovereign techniques for resisting everything from speeding tickets to drug charges".[17]
In March 2011, a central figure in the sovereign citizen movement named Samuel Lynn Davis pleaded guilty to 31 counts of money laundering in Federal district court in Nevada. Davis was snared in a sting operation after he agreed to launder more than $1.29 million in what he believed to be illicit funds. Davis accepted $73,782 fees to launder the money, not realizing he was dealing with Federal law enforcement agents.[18] In October 2011, Davis was sentenced to four years and nine months in Federal prison, and was ordered to pay over $95,000 in restitution.[19]
On December 2, 2011, David Russell Myrland, an associate of a Sovereign Citizens group, was sentenced to three years and four months in federal prison after pleading guilty in connection with threats he made to public officials, including a threat to forcibly arrest the mayor of Kirkland, Washington.[20] In September 2010, Myrland, who is not a public official or law enforcement officer, sent emails and placed telephone calls to various officials of the City of Kirkland, telling them to "keep their doors unlocked", that they were going to be arrested, and that they "should not resist".[20] Myrland also reportedly threatened federal judges and the chief prosecutor of King County, Washington.[21] Myrland's threat to arrest the mayor of Kirkland came about after he was arrested by police. His vehicle had been impounded after he was found driving with a suspended license and expired vehicle-license tabs. An unloaded gun with ammunition nearby had been found on the seat of the car.[22] Although he was not a law enforcement officer, Myrland had claimed that he had the authority to form a group of private citizens to arrest felons in public office "as permitted by RCW 9A.16.020".[22][23]