Homemade Sovereignty · Episode 6 of 7 · 40 min
Sovereign Citizens in Court: The Strawman, the Gold-Fringed Flag, and Why Judges Stopped Arguing
Sovereign citizens argue they are a separate 'living man' apart from a corporate 'strawman' named on their court papers. Judges, having heard it so often, dispatch such arguments with boilerplate. The episode follows the idea indoors from the courtroom to the Moorish sovereign variant, and shows why it loses on ground the courts own.
Who's who
- Richard PosnerSeventh Circuit judge; canonical dismissal in United States v. Schneider
- Noble Drew AliFounded the Moorish Science Temple of America in 1913
- RookeAlberta justice who catalogued pseudolegal arguments in Meads v. Meads (2012)
Where it happens
- MoroccoPartner in the 1787 Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the U.S.
- Newark, New Jersey+1 more episodeWhere the Moorish Science Temple was founded in 1913
- Wakefield, MassachusettsSite of a July 2021 armed roadside standoff on I-95
Timeline
- 1787U.S. and Morocco sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship
- 1913Moorish Science Temple of America founded
- 1990United States v. Schneider rejects sovereign-style arguments
- 2011United States v. Benabe says such defenses be rejected summarily
- 2012Meads v. Meads in Alberta catalogs pseudolegal arguments
- July 2021Armed Moorish sovereign standoff shuts down I-95 in Wakefield
Still debated
Researchers disagree on how many followers are true believers, how many are opportunists using paperwork as cover for squatting and fraud, and how large the movement is. The descent of Moorish tactics from Posse Comitatus is documented but contested in emphasis. The legitimate Moorish Science Temple rejects the sovereign movement.