What Is A Sovereign Citizen? Courts Crush These "Legal" Claims

A sovereign citizen is someone who claims they’re not subject to U.S. government authority, courts, or laws—and courts have rejected these arguments as “completely without merit” and “patently frivolous” in every single case. In 2024 alone, sovereign citizens faced 38-year prison sentences for paper terrorism, nine years for tax fraud, and 90 months for firearm possession, with the FBI calling them the most significant domestic terrorism threat in America.

Courts don’t debate sovereign citizen theories—they dismiss them outright. If you assert these claims in court, you risk contempt charges, increased sentencing, and automatic loss of your case while facing felony prosecution for the underlying crimes.

What Sovereign Citizens Actually Claim

Sovereign citizens believe they can opt out of government authority by declaring themselves “non-citizen nationals,” “state nationals,” or “American State Nationals.” They reject federal, state, and local government legitimacy, claiming to be governed only by their interpretation of “common law” or natural rights.

These individuals often deny being sovereign citizens despite using the movement’s tactics. They may also call themselves U.S. Nationals, Non-Resident Aliens, Non-Citizen Nationals, Diplomats, or American State Nationals (ASN).

The ideology relies on pseudo-legal arguments, historical misinterpretations, and conspiracy theories. Common beliefs include the theory that there are two classes of citizens—”sovereign” citizens with full constitutional rights and “federal” citizens who traded their freedoms for government benefits through the 14th Amendment.

Why Courts Reject Every Sovereign Citizen Argument

Federal and state courts across America have unanimously rejected sovereign citizen legal theories as frivolous. Judges routinely describe these arguments as “completely without merit,” “patently frivolous,” and lacking any basis in law.

United States v. Jagim (1992): The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected sovereign citizen arguments in a drug trafficking case, describing them as “completely without merit” and “patently frivolous.” The court emphasized that simply declaring oneself outside the law does not negate government authority.

United States v. Mitchell (2005): Mitchell argued he was sovereign and not a U.S. citizen, therefore not liable for federal tax laws. The court upheld jurisdiction and ruled that sovereign status is not a valid legal defense.

Bryant v. Washington Mutual Bank (2007): A self-identified Moorish national attempted to void a foreclosure by claiming he wasn’t subject to U.S. law. Courts rejected the argument entirely.

Legal experts from Northeastern University call sovereign citizen defenses “nonsense.” Michael Meltsner, George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law, stated flatly that the defense has no legal applicability whatsoever.

What Is a Sovereign Citizen? Courts Crush These "Legal" Claims—Here's Why You'll Lose Every Time

Recent Court Cases: 2024-2025 Sovereign Citizen Prosecutions

May 2025: Wyoming Felon Gets 90 Months for Firearms

Frank Ray Berris, a self-identified “state national,” was convicted after a three-hour standoff on U.S. Highway 20/26 in Wyoming on February 3, 2024. Police found three loaded firearms in his unregistered, uninsured vehicle—a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol, a Ruger SR-556 rifle, and a .45-caliber Colt pistol.

Representing himself, Berris rejected the court’s jurisdiction and federal laws. The district court barred him from presenting sovereign citizen arguments to the jury, deeming them irrelevant. On May 12, 2025, the Tenth Circuit affirmed his conviction and 90-month prison sentence.

May 2024: Florida “Sovereign” Gets 9 Years for $3.4M Tax Fraud

Judy Grace Sellers, who operated commercialredemption.com promoting IRS Form 1099-OID tax fraud schemes, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. She was convicted on charges of conspiracy to submit false tax returns, defrauding the U.S. Treasury, and filing a false lien against the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

In 2015, Sellers cut off her GPS ankle monitor and absconded for over eight years before being located in New Mexico. This was her second federal case involving counterfeiting and failing to appear.

December 2024: Colorado “Judge” Sentenced to 38 Years

Bruce A. Doucette, the self-appointed “Superior Court Judge of the Continental uNited States of America,” received 38 years in prison for a massive “paper terrorism” scheme. Doucette toured the country teaching antigovernment extremists how to set up bogus “common law” courts.

He and his associates filed fraudulent liens against public officials’ property, threatened them with arrest by self-appointed “Continental uNited States Marshals” with counterfeit badges, and disrupted court proceedings. At one point, the group boldly proclaimed a judge was “under citizen’s arrest.”

Robert S. Shapiro, Colorado’s first assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case, told the court that Doucette’s gang used a three-tier approach: attempting to influence public officials, extorting them when ignored, and resorting to “retaliatory behavior” including filing liens.

October 2025: Arkansas Man’s Convictions Overturned—But Not Because He Won

Michael Mattingly’s convictions were thrown out by the Arkansas Court of Appeals on October 1, 2025—not because his sovereign citizen arguments had merit, but because the trial court failed to properly ensure he understood the risks of representing himself.

Mattingly was pulled over for a broken taillight on July 2, 2023. The stop escalated when he yelled at the deputy and accused police of setting him up. Officers used a taser to subdue him and found a gun and morphine pills in his fanny pack.

Mattingly filed a 19-page motion claiming the court had no jurisdiction over him and citing UCC rules to declare himself a sovereign citizen. He fired his public defender and represented himself. The appeals court reversed his convictions solely due to improper self-representation procedures—his sovereign arguments remained legally worthless.

Common Sovereign Citizen Tactics That Always Fail

Traffic Stops and “Traveling, Not Driving”

Sovereign citizens claim they’re “traveling” rather than “driving,” arguing that driving only applies to commercial activity. They present fake documents or invoke phrases like “I do not consent” or “I am traveling, not driving.”

These arguments have zero legal merit and typically result in additional citations for obstruction or fraud. Earl Myers of Florida was arrested twice in ten days in May 2025 for driving without a license, claiming he had not “contracted with any government to follow state laws.”

Fake License Plates and Documents

Sovereign citizens use unauthorized license plates—often homemade—with phrases like “Private,” “Private Property,” “Non-Domestic,” “Sovereign Citizen,” “Not for Commerce,” or “Exempt.” Some include fictitious republic or tribal nation references or US Department of Transportation (USDOT) numbers.

These plates aren’t recognized by any U.S. state. Driving with one results in citations, arrest, or vehicle impoundment. Law enforcement officers are trained to recognize these tags as indicators of non-compliance and potential danger during traffic stops.

“Paper Terrorism” and Fraudulent Liens

Sovereign citizens file hundreds of pages of nonsensical documents with courts and government offices. Common filings include:

Fraudulent IRS forms (1099-DIV, 1099-INT) falsely claiming public officials received millions in income
Commercial liens against judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers
Demands for payment in millions or billions of dollars
Notices of default and commercial liens
Requests for certified copies of officials’ oaths and “Bar Bonds”

Filing fraudulent liens or documents is a crime in the United States. North Carolina enacted G.S. 14-118.6 in 2012, making it a Class I felony to knowingly present for filing a false lien or encumbrance against the property of a public officer based on their performance of official duties.

The 1099-OID Tax Fraud Scheme

Sovereign citizens promote the conspiracy theory that each person possesses a secret government-funded bank account created at birth. They claim IRS Form 1099-OID gives them access to this nonexistent account.

This scheme has led to multiple federal prosecutions. Judy Grace Sellers assisted with filing 22 forms totaling requests for $3.4 million. The IRS has repeatedly warned that these schemes are fraudulent, and participants face criminal prosecution.

Challenging Court Jurisdiction

Sovereign citizens routinely claim courts have no jurisdiction over them. They argue their name in all capital letters on indictments means the court is prosecuting a “straw man,” not the living person.

These arguments are NEVER successful. As one legal observer noted after witnessing these claims for 30 years: “These arguments are NEVER successful. Not only do such legal arguments fly in the face of logic, they risk seriously undermining viable factual defenses and legal claims the defendant might actually have.”

Legal Consequences of Asserting Sovereign Citizen Status

Using sovereign citizen arguments in court doesn’t protect you—it harms your case and adds criminal charges:

Contempt of Court: Judges can hold you in contempt for refusing to recognize the court’s authority or disrupting proceedings.

Increased Sentencing: Courts view sovereign citizen arguments as showing a lack of remorse and unwillingness to accept legal authority, which can result in harsher sentences.

Additional Criminal Charges: Filing fraudulent documents, using fake license plates, or threatening public officials adds felony charges on top of your original offenses.

Loss of Self-Representation Rights: While defendants have a constitutional right to represent themselves under Faretta v. California, courts can revoke this right if defendants engage in “defiant or physically disruptive pretrial conduct.”

Automatic Loss of Your Case: Sovereign citizen arguments have a 100% failure rate in court. You will lose, and you’ll lose harder than if you had presented actual legal defenses.

The Growing Danger: Violence and Escalation

The FBI lists sovereign citizens as the most significant domestic terrorism threat in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League reports that 2024 set a record for violent encounters between law enforcement officers and sovereign citizens.

2024 Violent Incidents

Six sovereign citizens attempted violence against law enforcement personnel in 2024, resulting in one officer killed and three hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Four more officers sustained injuries. None of the sovereign citizens survived these encounters.

West Memphis Police Killings: Jerry Kane, who traveled the country holding seminars teaching anti-government conspiracies and pseudo-legal solutions, opened fire during a traffic stop and killed two West Memphis police officers. Kane and his son were later killed in a Walmart parking lot shootout.

Hamilton County Shooting (May 2024): A man opened fire on deputies in Hamilton County, Florida, while they were trying to serve a warrant.

Polk County Attack (April 2024): A man shot two Polk County deputies when they asked him to leave a closed city park.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says law enforcement officers train for encounters with sovereign citizens because they can often become violent. “When I hear that, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up because it’s not a regular car stop.”

Why They’re Considered Dangerous

Law enforcement agencies train officers to handle sovereign citizen encounters cautiously. Some sovereigns have been involved in ambushes or deadly confrontations. Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County said simply: “They’re dangerous.”

In March 2024, Curtis Gregory Smith Jr. of Pennsylvania was sentenced to up to 56 years in prison for being a felon in possession of six firearms, body armor, and thousands of rounds of ammunition—some categorized as “NATO grade” and meant for war zones.

Wayne R. Lund was arrested after a traffic stop in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. Police found he had no driver’s license or insurance, but he did possess pipe bombs, which he claimed were for his “rocket hobby.” He faces felony charges of possession of an explosive/incendiary device.

Moorish Sovereign Citizens: A Specific Variant

Moorish sovereign citizens claim immunity from U.S. laws based on alleged treaties between the U.S. and the Moroccan Empire. Like other sovereign citizens, Moorish adherents engage in fraudulent filings, claim ownership of foreclosed properties, and assert diplomatic immunity.

In 2021, 11 members of “Rise of the Moors” were arrested after an hourslong armed standoff on I-95 in Massachusetts. The men refused to put down their weapons or comply with police orders, claiming to adhere to “Moorish Sovereign Ideology.”

Several Rise of the Moors members later sued Massachusetts State Police for $70 million in damages, claiming discrimination and asserting that Massachusetts courts had no jurisdiction over the case. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Despite religious or historical references, Moorish sovereign citizen legal arguments remain invalid in court and are rejected with the same certainty as other sovereign citizen claims.

What Prosecutors and Judges Actually Do

Prosecutors and courts follow established procedures when dealing with sovereign citizen defendants:

Bar Frivolous Arguments: Courts prevent defendants from presenting sovereign citizen theories to juries, ruling them irrelevant and without legal merit.

Rule 11 Sanctions: Courts can impose sanctions on attorneys or self-represented litigants who file frivolous motions or arguments.

Gatekeeper Orders: Courts can issue orders limiting the number or type of filings a sovereign citizen can make to prevent abuse of the legal system.

Continue Denying the Arguments: As the Eighth Circuit explained in United States v. Willis (2024), the correct remedy for frivolous sovereign citizen arguments is to simply continue denying them and impose lesser sanctions if necessary—not to revoke self-representation rights absent “defiant or physically disruptive pretrial conduct.”

The court in Willis emphasized that although sovereign citizen arguments are “unquestionably frivolous” and would likely lengthen trials, asserting these claims alone isn’t the type of serious and obstructionist behavior necessary to revoke the right to self-representation.

International Spread of the Movement

The sovereign citizen movement has spread beyond the United States to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

In Canada, Romana Didulo, one of the country’s most notorious QAnon conspiracy theorists, used sovereign citizen rhetoric to persuade followers not to pay taxes, debts, or utility bills. In 2024, lawyer Naomi Arbabi resigned her license after being suspended by the Law Society of British Columbia for filing a frivolous lawsuit using pseudolegal arguments similar to sovereign citizen claims.

Australia imported sovereign citizen ideas in the 1990s. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the movement’s spread, with numerous incidents with law enforcement—some violent, like the Wieambilla (2022) and Porepunkah (2025) shootings.

In 2024, New Zealand police identified 1,400 New Zealanders acting under the influence of sovereign citizen ideology. Many litigants using pseudolegal concepts in New Zealand are Māori.

Dutch intelligence and security services estimated the number of Dutch sovereign citizens as several tens of thousands in 2024. In July 2024, a movement member was tried for attempting to illegally acquire firearms, which caused concern in the Netherlands where anti-government radical movements are traditionally considered nonviolent.

The Reality: You Cannot Opt Out of the Law

Northeastern legal expert Daniel Medwed summarizes it simply: sovereign citizen arguments are “nonsense” that have no legal applicability whatsoever.

Every court that has considered sovereign citizen claims has rejected them. The Supreme Court has consistently affirmed that sovereignty resides with the government, not individual citizens. All residents of the United States—regardless of their beliefs—are subject to the same legal obligations.

You cannot unilaterally declare yourself exempt from laws. You cannot create your own legal system. You cannot void contracts, taxes, or criminal charges by filing pseudo-legal documents or claiming special status.

If you try, you will lose your case, face additional criminal charges, and potentially spend decades in prison.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a sovereign citizen and is it legal?

A sovereign citizen is someone who believes they’re not subject to U.S. government authority, courts, or laws. This belief has no legal validity—courts have unanimously rejected sovereign citizen arguments as frivolous and without merit in every case. Asserting sovereign citizen status doesn’t exempt you from laws; it typically results in contempt charges, increased sentencing, and automatic loss of your case.

Can you go to jail for being a sovereign citizen?

Yes. While holding sovereign citizen beliefs isn’t itself illegal, using these theories to commit crimes or obstruct justice leads to serious criminal charges. Recent cases include a 38-year sentence for paper terrorism, 9 years for tax fraud, and 90 months for illegal firearm possession. The FBI considers sovereign citizens the most significant domestic terrorism threat in America.

Do sovereign citizen arguments ever work in court?

No. Sovereign citizen arguments have a 100% failure rate in court. Federal and state courts across America have unanimously rejected these theories as “completely without merit” and “patently frivolous.” Judges routinely bar defendants from presenting these arguments to juries because they have no legal basis whatsoever.

What happens if you use sovereign citizen tactics during a traffic stop?

You’ll likely face arrest, vehicle impoundment, and additional criminal charges. Claims like “I’m traveling, not driving” or “I don’t consent” have zero legal merit. Using fake license plates, refusing to provide identification, or claiming the officer has no jurisdiction will escalate the situation and result in citations for obstruction or fraud on top of the original traffic violation.

Why are sovereign citizens considered dangerous?

The FBI lists sovereign citizens as the most significant domestic terrorism threat because some have engaged in violence against law enforcement. In 2024, six sovereign citizens attempted violence against police, resulting in one officer killed and three hospitalized. Two West Memphis police officers were killed by a sovereign citizen during a traffic stop, and multiple other shootings occurred during law enforcement encounters.

What is “paper terrorism” in sovereign citizen cases?

Paper terrorism is when sovereign citizens file hundreds of pages of fraudulent documents with courts and government offices, including fake liens against public officials’ property, false IRS forms claiming officials received millions in income, and demands for outrageous sums of money. Filing fraudulent liens or documents is a federal crime that can result in years in prison—as demonstrated by Bruce Doucette’s 38-year sentence in 2024.

Can a lawyer use sovereign citizen arguments on your behalf?

No competent attorney would use sovereign citizen arguments because they have no legal validity and would violate professional ethics rules. In 2024, Canadian lawyer Naomi Arbabi was suspended and resigned her license for filing a lawsuit using pseudolegal arguments similar to sovereign citizen claims. If your attorney suggests these theories, report them to the state bar immediately.

What Is a Sovereign Citizen? Courts Crush These “Legal” Claims—Here’s Why You’ll Lose Every Time