In 1997, a distressed father in Missouri insisted that a judge lacked jurisdiction over his custody case simply because the courtroom flag flew a so-called “maritime flag of war.” In his view, the flag meant the court was under “admiralty law,” not civil law. Therefore, he claimed, the judge had no authority to rule on his family matters.
It sounds absurd to any trained attorney (indeed, federal courts have called these arguments “totally frivolous”). Yet these scenes play out in courts around the United States with alarming regularity. Why does this “magical” legal thinking persist?
The pattern is recognizable. The sovereign citizen movement operates with cult-like dynamics, using ritualized pseudolegal beliefs to hijack people’s decision-making, disrupting court proceedings, and often leading to severe personal consequences.
History and Prevalence of the Sovereign Citizen Movement
The origins of the “sovereign citizen” movement are speculative, but most scholars agree that its beginnings trace back to extremist, anti-government groups. For example, the white supremacist Posse Comitatus organization and elements of the 1960s–70s tax protest movement incubated the idea that Americans could declare themselves “sovereign” and beyond the reach of government laws. Similar groups proliferated in most English-speaking countries, some with a more Christian slant, others more anti-taxation or explicitly denouncing the government’s authority.
Early promoters like William Potter Gale (a Christian Identity minister) taught that the federal government was illegitimate, even denouncing U.S. currency and taxes as tools of a Jewish conspiracy. Those following the sovereign citizen movement were taught that by “exposing” the supposed illegal government, they would be exempt from laws, taxes, and debts and subject to God’s divine judgment alone. Ultimately, the religious form of the belief is cradled in a fraudulent view of the law that states that an illegitimate government has corrupted a previously divine law.
While steeped in racist and anti-Semitic ideology at the start, the movement has since morphed into a more diverse underground. Today’s sovereign citizen scene includes people of varied ideas and ethnic backgrounds. For instance, some Black Americans have formed “Moorish” sovereign groups that claim exemption from U.S. law via imagined treaties or heritage. What unites these factions is a conspiratorial belief that the modern government is a fraudulent corporation oppressing free (or “sovereign”) individuals.
From its fringe beginnings, sovereign citizen ideology has proliferated during times of crisis. Economic downturns, farm foreclosures in the 1980s, the 2008 recession, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have all fueled new waves of converts searching for relief or control. With the ongoing political instability, we’re seeing a new rash of self-proclaimed sovereign citizens lately. Indeed, sovereign citizen beliefs have bled into more mainstream extremist movements. Some January 6th Capitol riot participants, for example, espoused sovereign-type rhetoric.
Pauline Bauer, a woman convicted for her role in the Capitol attack, insisted in court that she was not subject to the United States, and she flooded the court with nonsense filings while defending herself. Other followers have fared far worse. Across the country, a subset of sovereign citizens has escalated to violence, from shootouts at traffic stops to armed standoffs. The FBI has considered sovereign citizen extremists a domestic terror threat.
Today, what began as a marginal anti-government doctrine is widespread in many English-speaking countries. We must grasp the belief system at its core to understand its strange endurance.
Magical Legal Thinking and the Allure of Pseudolaw
At the heart of the sovereign citizen subculture is a body of what many call “pseudolaw.” These legal-sounding but ultimately inadmissible arguments and theories promise ordinary people an escape from the law.
Over the past few decades, sovereign citizens have built a parallel legal universe. In this alternate universe, they believe secret laws and loopholes allow them to nullify debts, avoid taxes, and immunize themselves from government authority. Understanding a few core ideas in the pseudolaw playbook is essential.
The “Strawman”
This strawman idea says that each person has two versions, a flesh-and-blood natural person and a separate legal persona (the “strawman”) represented by their name in capital letters.
According to this theory, when your parents signed your birth certificate, the government effectively enslaved you as collateral for the national debt. But, say sovereign gurus, you can reclaim your sovereignty if you revoke that identity (for example, by writing your name in odd formats such as Jake;;™ instead of JAKE FRUMAN). By doing this, adherents believe they access a particular “secret” language and reclaim judgment by God (if a believer) alone.
In practice, adherents will refuse to accept any document or summons addressed to the strawman name, insisting, “That’s not me, that’s my strawman.”
Of course, none of this has any basis in actual law. Courts have consistently rejected the strawman argument as ridiculous and meritless. But it feels empowering to believers. It gives a sense that they’ve unmasked a grand deception and can assert a self free from government shackles.
Corporations, Free Money, and God
Building on the strawman lore, many American sovereign citizens become obsessed with the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a standardized set of commercial laws in the U.S.
They are told that hidden in the UCC’s filing provisions lies a magical procedure to separate from one’s strawman. Seminars and websites sell sham instructions on filing UCC-1 statements to announce to the government that you, the real person, are seizing the assets of your corporate shell. Many also believe in a divine aspect, that the present government (a supposed commercial corporation) overthrew God’s rule over man, and thus is an ungodly ruler. Thus, following this logic, all governments are ungodly and invalid, freeing the individual from all laws. The ultimate goal is, of course, to overthrow the current rule and reestablish God’s laws.
Some believe they can tap into their secret Treasury account by filing specific notices to pay off debts. Followers have even sent fraudulent IRS forms, hoping to extract money from their strawman’s account. Needless to say, people who attempt this inevitably end up in serious legal trouble.
The Get Out of Trouble “Magic Words”
The most surreal aspect of pseudolaw is its quasi-mystical belief in the power of certain words and punctuation to alter legal reality. Just as some belief systems have sacred mantras or rituals, the sovereign citizen subculture has its own legal incantations.
For example, adherents insist that saying, “I do not consent” or “I do not understand” (believing “understand” legally means “stand under authority”) will nullify a judge’s jurisdiction. They sign documents with memorable phrases like “All Rights Reserved” or add stamped phrases and red fingerprints as “blood seals” to invoke obscure laws.
Many believe a court cannot act against you if you refuse to speak words other than from an approved script. This is magical thinking in the psychological sense, a hallmark of the sovereign citizen belief system.
The Cult of the “Free” Citizen
The core tenets have spread internationally with remarkable consistency. Together, they promise free money, immunity, and freedom from the rule of law. These beliefs and scams spread through interest groups, seminars, and increasingly online. There have even been reports of schemes being run out of prisons.
Some individuals hear about the movement as a sort of “loophole,” while others are steadfast believers who self-sabotage to demonstrate their ideas in court. Ultimately, both fail. Although self-proclaimed gurus promise “get-out-of-jail-free” tricks at the cost of hundreds of dollars per seminar, there has never been any proof that these “tricks” work.
Why do otherwise rational people buy into these outlandish ideas? In my experience, identity and grievance are key. Sovereign citizen ideology attracts individuals who feel disempowered or mistreated by traditional authorities.
The movement speaks to their grievance narratives. “You lost your home not because you fell behind on payments, but because the bank and courts conspired against you.” It also offers a new identity to fuse with, one that feels better, more powerful, less out of control.
You’re not in debt, you’re a “freeman on the land” who sees the hidden truth. Folks go from feeling powerless to proudly identifying themselves with grandiose titles like “Private American National” or “Ambassador of the Kingdom of Smith.”
If you listen to someone parroting pseudolegal sovereign citizen jargon in a courtroom, you’ll likely be struck by how rehearsed it sounds. It is. There are literal “courtroom playbooks” circulating on everything from refusing to enter the courtroom to reciting arguments on jurisdiction.
This is why it is common to see followers act out the same routines. They will not give their name to the judge and will inappropriately interrupt proceedings with objections. Many also shun any mainstream legal counsel. Instead, they’re encouraged to be “pro se litigants” representing themselves. The risk of doing this within a complex legal system with explicit procedural obligations cannot be overstated.
This isolating behavior can compound existing legal problems. For instance, judges may hold them in contempt of court for disrupting the proceedings or refusing to cooperate. And yet, the individual feels morally righteous for following the script rather than the advice of normal lawyers.
Essentially, the movement imposes behavioral rigidity. There is a narrow set of approved actions (file this template, read this statement, never sign that form), and these actions often outright forbid anything that might resolve the legal issue. If followers deviate, they are frequently shamed by the group if they belong to one.
Like destructive cults, sovereign citizen circles create an information silo for members. They produce endless secret manuals, seminars, and YouTube videos. Sovereign citizens might join private online forums or conference calls where legal strategies are shared, often for a fee.
Sovereign citizen ideology comes with jargon and a loaded language that fiercely shapes followers’ thinking, leaving little room for nuance. Either you’re “free” or you’re a “slave”; either the court has zero authority, or you’re doomed to be a victim. Any outcome short of total vindication proves that the member didn’t fight hard enough or that the system is 100% rotten.
This thought-stopping extends to handling doubt as members are inculcated with mental reflexes to reject contrary thoughts. The movement preempts critical thinking by controlling the very definitions of legal terms. If you’re convinced, for instance, that saying “I understand” literally enslaves you, you won’t even allow yourself to entertain or listen to a judge’s questions.
Perhaps most pernicious is how these groups manipulate emotions such as fear, anger, pride, and hope to maintain loyalty. Fear is heavily used, such as the fear of “falling back under the contract” if one complies slightly. Many sovereign adherents develop paranoid thinking, constantly worrying about being entrapped by hidden legal tricks. For instance, they might write “UNDER DURESS” next to their signature out of fear that they may have accidentally consented to something that puts them back “in the contract.”
Consequences of the Sovereign Citizen Movement
The sovereign citizen belief system is not harmless eccentricity. It routinely leads people to legal ruin. The courtroom becomes a stage where the human cost is laid bare as followers often turn simple legal matters, such as routine traffic tickets, into quagmires that end in sanctions or jail.
It isn’t uncommon to see a court recording in which a sovereign citizen faces even worse charges and is escorted to the county jail for refusing to cooperate rather than accept a hefty fee and walk away. Judges often attempt to intervene, advising the person to accept a public defender, but ultimately have no choice but to deal harshly with repetitive and disruptive courtroom behavior.
Further, sovereign citizens waste money on seminar fees, bogus legal documents, and missed opportunities to settle cases. They may lose their homes to foreclosure, rack up tax liens, or fall victim to scams by fellow “sovereigns.”
The sovereign citizen movement may not have a single charismatic leader like a traditional cult, but it functions as a destructive cultic milieu. Within the structure is a web of shared illusions about the law, feelings of persecution, and conspiratorial beliefs.
There is also a significant societal cost to this movement. In a democratic society, we create laws and uphold them to handle unacceptable actions and manage civil disputes systematically. This collective practice is disrupted when sovereign citizens interrupt courts with bogus legal arguments. Instead of respecting procedure, court trials become circuses that take time, energy, and effort away from important matters. What was a $60 traffic ticket becomes jail time. There is blatant disrespect and abuse of the system, all to prove a point that isn’t legitimate.
Legal scholars agree that pseudolegal ideas such as the sovereign citizen movement should not be humored in court, nor do they have legitimate grounds for using their ideas to defend themselves. However, the movement is important to examine. Self-declared sovereign citizens represent some of the most disruptive and damaging occurrences in and out of the courtroom.
Sovereign citizens’ ideology was a foundational philosophy behind the January 6th attempted insurrection and continues to be a genuine domestic terrorism threat. A destructive cult-like movement of fervent adherents who believe that following the law is a choice, and that consequences can be skirted with magic words and trademark symbols, is not something we can afford to ignore.
References
Lynne Feldman & Erica Fields. (2024). CONTEMPTUOUS OF COURT: How Sovereign Citizens Damage The US Judicial System: Part I.
Stephen Kent. (2013, May 30). FREEMEN, SOVEREIGN CITIZENS, AND THE THREAT TO PUBLIC ORDER IN BRITISH HERITAGE COUNTRIES. European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism.
Further Reading and Resources
Sovereign Citizens Movement, Insurrection, and Domestic Terrorism
The Insurrection Attempt: Attack on Democracy
Political Extremism and the Republican Party: The New Right
Cult Involvement in the Attempt to Destroy Democracy
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