71
Sovereign citizens have several explanations of
where America went wrong, but the basic thinking
argues that, at some point, popular sovereignty was
abandoned in favor of admiralty law—the law of the sea
and international commerce. According to the South-
ern Poverty Law Center: “Under common law, or so they
believe, the sovereigns would be free men. Under admi-
ralty law, they are slaves, and secret government forces
have a vested interest in keeping them that way.” And
so sovereigns assert that when they are tried at a court
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fringe), said court holds no jurisdiction over them and
the case should be dropped.
Further, that “some point” where the U.S. forfeited
its legitimacy is in dispute. Many sovereigns maintain
VadNdVaUaUR_NaV¼PNaV\[\SaUR aUN[Q !aU.ZR[Q- ments. According to Kalinowski, “Sovereign Citizens believe that the Thirteenth Amendment, which out- lawed slavery, caused problems for the federal gov- ernment because up until that point, ‘slaves were not citizens of any state or country, because they were just property, and property did not have citizenship.’ To rectify this problem, according to Sovereign Citizens, aUR3\b_aRR[aU.ZR[QZR[adN_NaV¼RQ\Na\P_RNaR
‘a new class of citizenship.’ This new citizenship was a
‘privilege’ granted by the federal government, unsup-
ported by the ‘sovereign inalienable right.’ ”
And that’s not the only theory. Others date it to the
]N`NTR\SaUR #aU.ZR[QZR[adUVPUNYY\dRQaUR institution of an income ta x. Yet another sovereign aUR\_f ]RT Va Na & dVaUaURP_RNaV[\SaUR3RQR_NY
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on history can attract followers, and because there is an
entrepreneurial edge to sovereign culture—sovereigns
aren’t shy about selling anything or everything, whether
VaμRZV[N ObZ]R_aVPXR O\\X \ ½Na\ba ]YRN`
for cash on YouTube—followers are also customers. And
theories are changed and updated constantly.
THE PERIL
Whatever the origin, sovereign ideolog y has gained trac-
tion in the past decade, in par t due to v ideos like Seim’s.
AUNacVQR\V\ZRaUV[T\SN[\QQVafAURPVcVYVN[½NT Q\d[aUR\¦PR_[\aaUR\aUR_dNfN_\b[QN[QRcR_f- one remains calm—no voices raised, no weapons drawn. Some roadside interactions with sovereign thinkers don’t proceed so peacefully. 6[:Nf ]\YVPR\¦PR_/VYY2cN[NaaRZ]aRQN
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Jerry Kane made his living holding debt-elimination
seminars based on the sovereign idea that one’s “real
self ” is distinct from the “corporate self ” established
back when America sold its citizens’ futures under admi-
ralty law. Judging by the old Plymouth he was driving—
which was registered to the House of God’s Prayer in New
Vienna, Ohio—his success with the seminars was modest.
Reinforcing each other’s paranoid view of the govern-
ment, both Kanes were rapt by sovereign conspiracy
aUR\_VR`.[QN`2cN[`NaaRZ]aRQa\S_V`XaURRYQR_8N[RaUR
aRR[NTR8N[RPNZR\ba¼_V[TN[Nba\ZNaVPdRN]\[2cN[`
and Paudert were murdered. A couple hours later, trapped
in a Walmart parking lot, the Kanes were killed in a shootout
with police.
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F\b[T`a_\ZdN``U\aN[QXVYYRQdUVYR]R_S\_ZV[TNa_N¦P
stop of a Jeep with an obstructed license plate belonging
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killed Lacy. A subsequent investigation revealed that Lacy
had been diagnosed as bipolar and had downloaded a lot of
sovereign literature.STOPPING POINT
As for Seim—who, remember, rejects the sovereign label—
after theatrically contending for his ideas, being hauled into
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.ZR_VPNNYa\TRaUR_/RYVRcV[TaURT\cR_[ZR[aURdN`a_fV[T
to keep honest was out to get him and his family, he moved to
Mexico. He says he’ll stay there, away from the fray.
“The reality,” Seim says, “is that the government is
taking the term ‘sovereign’ and throwing it at anyone who
doesn’t, when they see a cop, say, ‘Yes, sir. Thank you. Have
a good day. Thank you for your service.’ That’s really what
it amounts to.”
Labels fade, and yet the ideas can persist, sold under new
brands. There are fringe ideologies coming out of the cultural
kiln all the time, and snake oil has always lubricated Ameri-
can culture. With the development of online subcultures,
Vaμ`RN`VR_aUN[RcR_a\¼[QYVXRZV[QRQZNYP\[aR[a`_RNQf
to support even the kookiest ideas. “Hopefully one day this
will peter out, and people won’t be taken in by the snake oil
anymore,” Kalinowski says.
The homemade license plates and bumper stickers fea-
turing sovereign slogans serve an unintended purpose. They
give cops some warning about how the people in the vehicle
they’re approaching might react to law enforcement. Should
these usual markers of sovereign citizenry fade, it will be that
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NPaV\[`AUNaZNXR`a_N¦P`a\]`RcR[Z\_Ra_RNPUR_\b`S\_
police and sovereigns alike.
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encroaching,’ ” Kalinowski says. “[The idea that] the federal
government doesn’t represent them, doesn’t understand
them, and is trying to reach down into their lives in ways it
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b_RQ\baNdNfN_\b[QaUNa/baVaμ`NPabNYYfPNb`V[TaURZa\
have more interaction with the government. More negative
interactions because they think they’ve found a talismanic
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works out that way. There’s no case where a sovereign citi-
zen’s case has been upheld.”
Anti-government ideology is on the edge now, mostly
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to come out where sovereign citizens most often confront
T\cR_[ZR[a]\dR_'V[PN_`\[_\NQ`Qb_V[Ta_N¦P`a\]`