Chapter 1: The Origins of the Sovereign Citizen Movement
Tax Protestors. 14
Anti-Federalist 17
The Posse Comitatus. 17
The Militia Movement 19
Conclusion. 23
References. 24
Chapter 2: Behavior and Underlying Ideology. 27
Jurisdiction. 29
Warrants. 30
Joinder 30
I Do Not Consent 31
Traveling. 32
Refusing to Identify Themselves. 33
I Don't Answer Questions. 34
Self-Made License Plates. 34
Black's Law Dictionary. 35
What's the Emergency?. 35
Fee Schedules. 36
What’s Your Bond Number?. 36
Do You Have a Business Card?. 36
Recording Traffic Stops or Live Broadcasting. 37
Calling 911. 38
Return Driver’s License. 39
Revoking the Vehicle's Registration. 40
Not US Citizens. 41
Driving is a God-Given Right. 42
Not a Car, Truck or Vehicle. 43
Corpus Delicti 45
Where is the Injured Party?. 48
Did You Take an Oath?. 50
What Crime Am I Being Accused of Committing?. 52
Am I Being Detained?. 53
You Are Dismissed. 54
Lie to Police. 55
I Demand to Speak to Your Supervisor 56
Chapter 3: Violence and Sovereign Citizens. 58
Andrew Joseph Stack. 60
Jerry Kane Jr. and Joseph Kane. 60
Nathaniel “Sach” Kargas. 61
Jered and Amanda Miller 63
Steven Paddock. 63
Travis Reinking. 64
Jared Loughner 65
Terry Lyn Smith. 65
John Terry Chapman Jr 66
Forrest Gordon Clark. 66
Scott Roeder 67
Attempts, Threats, Unsuccessful Plots, and Jailhouse Conversions. 68
Janay Rebecca Smith. 69
Mitchell Timothy Taebel 69
Michael Wayne Parsons. 70
Ted Klaudt 72
Stephen Lorenzo. 73
The Insane Deuces. 74
References. 76
Chapter 4: Paper Terrorism and other Tactics. 84
What is Paper Terrorism?. 84
False Liens. 84
OIDs and False Refund Cases. 88
“Bond Process”. 89
House Squatting. 90
Sovereign Citizen Fraud in US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Programs 91
Midwives and Private Membership Associations (PMAs) 92
Federal and State Laws Against Paper Terrorism.. 93
Profile of A Paper Terrorist 94
Conclusion. 95
References. 96
Chapter 5: Moors. 102
Origins of the Moors. 104
Moorish Sovereigns. 105
Moorish Sovereigns and Their Association With Other Groups. 108
The Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. 109
Islamic State (ISIS) 111
Scientology and the Anti-Vaccination Movement 112
References. 117
Chapter 6: Sovereign Citizens in Court 123
Sovereign Citizens and Mental Illness. 128
Review of the Literature. 128
Female Sovereign Citizens. 132
References. 139
Chapter 7: Countering the Sovereign Citizen Movement 143
Laws. 143
Squatting and Traffic Stops. 144
The Courts. 147
The Fight Against Domestic Terrorism.. 150
References. 154
Dr. Christine M. Sarteschi, LCSW is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Criminology. She teaches courses in behavioral science that cover a wide range of topics including: human behavior, juvenile justice, mental illness and crime, cold case research, problem solving courts, mass murder, and extreme violent crime. Her research has appeared in The British Journal of Social Work, Aggression and Violent Behavior, The Journal of Criminal Justice, among others. She has served as a peer reviewer for the National Science Foundation as well as other scholarly journals. Dr. Sarteschi's most recent Springer brief includes “Mass and Serial Murder in America.”
This brief serves to educate readers about the sovereign citizen movement, presenting relevant case studies and offering suggestions for measures to address problems caused by this movement. Sovereign citizens are considered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to be a prominent domestic terrorist threat in the United States, and are broadly defined as a loosely-afflicted anti-government group who believes that the United States government and its laws are invalid and fraudulent. Because they consider themselves to be immune to the consequences of American law, members identifying with this group often engage in criminal activities such as tax fraud, “paper terrorism”, and in more extreme cases, attempted murder or other acts of violence. Sovereign Citizens is one of the first scholarly works to explicitly focus on the sovereign citizen movement by explaining the movement’s origin, interactions with the criminal justice system, and ideology.