Lori Meadows
The concept of sovereign citizens and the associated movement emerged in 1971 within the Posse Comitatus, a far-right, anti-government group. Sovereign citizens believe they are not subject to federal laws or government control and often clash with law enforcement, the judiciary, and revenue services. They rely on conspiracy theories and flawed legal arguments to justify their beliefs and actions, sometimes engaging in illegal or violent activities. While some sovereign citizens are affiliated with specific groups, others act independently or follow gurus. The movement has evolved, with members now preferring terms like state nationals or American State Nationals due to the negative connotations attached to sovereign citizens. The movement has seen an increase in younger and female members, and authorities in Australia and the US are monitoring it more closely due to its extremist beliefs and potential links to violence. Teach For America and similar organizations are working to promote Indigenous sovereignty in education, empowering Indigenous students to understand their rights and cultural identities.
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What You'll Learn
Sovereign citizens' beliefs and activities
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose group of anti-government activists, conspiracy theorists, vexatious litigants, tax protesters, and financial scammers. Sovereign citizens adhere to a belief system that rejects or challenges the legitimacy of government authority. They believe they are sovereign entities not controlled by federal, state, or local laws.
Sovereign citizens may be affiliated with a group within the movement, follow the teachings of a specific "guru", or act entirely on their own. They regularly find themselves in conflict with government institutions, most commonly law enforcement, the judiciary, and revenue services. Their rejection of legal documentation such as Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, vehicle registration, and other forms of government identification leads to frequent interactions with law enforcement.
Sovereign citizens use pseudo-legal tactics and engage in activities such as filing fraudulent legal documents, challenging court proceedings, or refusing to recognize government-issued identification. They may also commit criminal activities such as tax evasion, filing bogus property liens, and committing violence against public officials.
The movement, which began in the 1960s-1970s, has attracted attention due to the unconventional beliefs and actions of its followers. While people who call themselves sovereign citizens are not necessarily criminals, their actions may result in legal trouble due to the movement's ideology. Law enforcement and legal authorities treat sovereign citizens the same way they treat any other individual and do not recognize sovereign citizen arguments as valid legal defenses.
Sovereign citizens hold varying racial ideologies and include a variety of people. The contemporary sovereign belief system is based on a conspiracy theory that the American government set up by the Founding Fathers was secretly replaced. They believe that the replacement government swapped common law for admiralty or maritime law. Some sovereign citizens believe this change occurred during the Civil War, while others date it to 1933, when the U.S. abandoned the gold standard.
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The sovereign citizen movement's growth
The sovereign citizen movement (also SovCit or SovCits) is a loose group of anti-government activists, conspiracy theorists, vexatious litigants, tax protesters, and financial scammers. Sovereign citizens have a pseudolegal belief system based on misinterpretations of common law. They claim that they are not subject to any government statutes unless they consent to them. The movement first appeared in the US in the early 1970s and has since expanded to other countries.
The sovereign citizen movement can be traced back to American far-right groups such as the Posse Comitatus and the constitutionalist wing of the militia movement. The Posse Comitatus was a far-right, anti-government movement that denounced the income tax, debt-based currency, and debt collection as tools of Jewish control over the United States. The roots of the sovereign citizen movement were thus strongly associated with white supremacist and antisemitic ideologies. The movement was originally associated with white supremacism and antisemitism, but now attracts people of various ethnicities, including a significant number of African Americans.
The sovereign citizen movement has grown significantly during times of economic or social crisis. It may appeal to people facing financial or legal difficulties or those wishing to resist perceived government oppression. The movement gained more support during the American farm crisis of the late 1970s and 1980s, which coincided with a general financial crisis in the US and Canada. The farm crisis saw the rise of anti-government protesters selling fraudulent debt relief programs, some of whom were associated with far-right groups.
The sovereign citizen movement has no single universally accepted symbol or emblem. Not all members of the movement call themselves "sovereign citizens", and some regard the term as an oxymoron. They may instead refer to themselves as “state nationals”, “constitutionalists”, “freemen”, “natural people”, “living people”, or “private persons”. The name “American State National” (ASN) became popular among sovereign citizens in the early 2020s, especially among followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
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Sovereign citizens' rejection of legal documentation
The sovereign citizen movement is one of the main contemporary sources of pseudolaw. Sovereign citizens typically believe that there are two types of citizens: natural citizens and Fourteenth Amendment citizens. They believe that courts have no jurisdiction over people and that certain procedures can make one immune to government laws and regulations. They reject most forms of taxation as illegitimate and reject Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.
Sovereign citizens often use flawed or invented legal arguments or irregular documents as "proof" of their claims. They may carry fraudulent driver's licenses to indicate their view that law enforcement does not have the authority to stop their vehicle, or write “No Liability Accepted” above their signature on a driver's license to signify that they do not accept it as legitimate. They also sell fraudulent documents, including driver's licenses, passports, and vehicle registrations, to other sovereign citizens and illegal immigrants. Sovereign citizens may also use peculiar language in their documents, such as writing in certain colors or using their own language.
Sovereign citizens file legitimate IRS and Uniform Commercial Code forms for illegitimate purposes, believing that doing so will compel the U.S. Treasury to fulfill its debts. They also teach others fraudulent tactics for a fee and participate in white-collar crimes such as mail, bank, mortgage, and wire fraud; money laundering; tax violations; and illegal firearms sales.
The sovereign citizen movement has been deemed a growing domestic threat to law enforcement by the FBI, and its members have been convicted of various crimes, including running fraudulent insurance schemes and possessing false documentation. Despite their tactics, sovereign citizens' arguments have never been successful in court, and their claims have been consistently rejected by courts in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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Sovereign citizens' conflict with government institutions
The concept of sovereign citizens first appeared in 1971 within the Posse Comitatus as a teaching of Christian Identity minister William Potter Gale. The Posse Comitatus was a far-right, anti-government movement that denounced the income tax, debt-based currency, and debt collection as tools of Jewish control over the United States. The roots of the sovereign citizen movement are strongly associated with white supremacist and antisemitic ideologies.
Sovereign citizens challenge the validity of the contemporary legal system and claim to answer only to God's law or common law, which they believe existed before a secret change of the political and legal system. They reject their US citizenship status and believe that most forms of established government, authority, and institutions are illegitimate. They regularly come into conflict with government institutions, especially law enforcement, the judiciary, and revenue services.
Sovereign citizens often use flawed or invented legal arguments or irregular documents purchased from other movement members as "proof" of their claims. They may also commit acts of ""paper terrorism", filing frivolous, pseudolegal claims involving large sums of money, often aimed at government officials. Some sovereign citizens have advocated for "redemption" theories, claiming that a secret bank account is created for every citizen at birth, and that the vast sums of money in this account can be reclaimed and applied to financial obligations or criminal charges.
Sovereign citizens' conflicts with authorities have occasionally resulted in violence. In the US, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) track sovereign citizens to some degree. After the 2022 Wieambilla shootings in Australia, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police indicated they would examine sovereign citizen groups more closely, as their beliefs increasingly align with those of other extremists.
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The roots of the sovereign citizen movement
The sovereign citizen movement (also SovCit or SovCits) emerged in the early 1970s, specifically in 1971 within the Posse Comitatus, a far-right anti-government movement. The concept of a "sovereign citizen" was introduced by Christian Identity minister William Potter Gale, who taught that sovereign citizens' rights were unfairly denied by the government. Gale's philosophy was rooted in white supremacist and antisemitic ideologies, and he claimed that the government was illegitimate.
The Posse Comitatus movement, which included tax evasion and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement as part of its ideology, provided a foundation for the sovereign citizen movement's anti-government and pseudolegal beliefs. The sovereign citizen movement attracted followers beyond Posse Comitatus, influencing the broader tax protester and Christian Patriot movements. Over time, the movement expanded beyond the United States to other English-speaking common law countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
The sovereign citizen movement's ideology is based on conspiracy theories and misinterpretations of common law. They challenge the validity of the contemporary legal system, claiming that the original common law system was secretly replaced by a new government that imposed admiralty or maritime law. Some believe this change occurred during the Civil War, while others attribute it to the events of 1933, when the U.S. abandoned the gold standard.
Sovereign citizens believe they are not subject to government authority and are exempt from federal laws and regulations. They reject legal documentation, such as Social Security numbers, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration, which often leads to conflicts with law enforcement. They may also use flawed or invented legal arguments and irregular documents to support their claims. The movement has no central leadership, and members may follow individual gurus or act independently.
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Frequently asked questions
Sovereign citizens are individuals who believe they are not under the jurisdiction of the federal government and consider themselves exempt from the country's law. They often use flawed or invented legal arguments to justify their beliefs and activities, some of which are illegal or violent.
The concept of a "sovereign citizen" was introduced in 1971 by Christian Identity minister William Potter Gale within the Posse Comitatus, a far-right anti-government movement. The sovereign citizen movement has since grown and evolved, with some members now preferring different terminology such as "state nationals" or "American State Nationals" due to the negative connotations associated with the term "sovereign citizen".
There is no evidence that universities are teaching students they are sovereign citizens. However, there have been instances of individuals associated with sovereign citizen groups providing instruction on how to interact with law enforcement or fill out paperwork to supposedly become sovereign. Additionally, there are initiatives to promote Indigenous sovereignty through education, such as the Sovereign Community School in Oklahoma, which offers a curriculum centered on the culture and values of Native nations.
